3   1822  01096  8139 


f 


LIBRARY 

UNIVERSITY  OF 
CALIFORNIA 

SAN  DIEGO 


3  1822  01096  8139 

'1*' 


5 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 


THE    MACMILLAN   COMPANY 

NEW  YORK    •    BOSTON   •    CHICAGO   •    DALLAS 
ATLANTA   •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LIMITED 

LONDON  •    BOMBAY   •    CALCUTTA 
MELBOURNE 

THB  MACMILLAN  CO.  OF  CANADA.  LTD. 

TORONTO 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 
1922 

All  rights  reserved 


FEINTED  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


COPYKIGHT,  1922, 
BT  THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY. 


Set  up  and  electrotyped.     Published  April,   1922. 


Press  of 

J.  J.  Little  &  Ives  Company 
New  York,  U.  S.  A. 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE 

A  period  of  widespread  unrest  followed  the  close  of  the 
Great  War.  Unseen  and  mysterious  forces  were  at  work 
in  our  civilization  jeopardizing  its  very  permanency.  This 
was  true  not  only  of  Russia,  with  its  Bolsheviki,  but  no 
less  of  our  own  national  life,  undermined  by  devious 
schemes  and  threatened  by  sinister  influences.  It  is  with 
some  of  these  hidden  plots  that  this  story  of  Secret  Service 
and  diplomatic  intrigue  is  concerned.  Time,  about  the 
year  1930. 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   HAND    OF    SEAFALCON. 

FOR  several  minutes  the  silence  of  the  big  apartment  was 
broken  only  by  the  cries — shrill,  hoarse  and  sepulchral — 
which,  rising  from  the  streets  below,  entered  the  open 
windows.  They  were  cries  of  boys  and  men  who  were 
hawking  extra  editions  of  newspapers — cries  that  seemed 
to  be  sinister  echoes  of  a  world  war  that  was  ended  and 
which  a  war-weary  world  stolidly  was  trying  to  forget. 

"Steamship  Columbian  torpedoed  by  Seafalcon!  Two 
thousand  drowned!  Seafalcon  sinks  Columbian  in  mid- 
ocean  !  Two  thousand  drowned !  Columbian  sent  down 
by  Seafalcon!  Two  thousand  drowned!" 

Without  speaking,  Hayden  Storrow,  seated  on  a  mor 
ris  chair,  and  Captain  George  Rennison,  standing  near 
one  of  the  windows,  continued  to  read  the  newspapers 
which  had  been  obtained  for  them  by  one  of  the  bell 
boys.  From  the  face  of  Storrow  horror  had  driven  all 
its  wonted  florid  color.  That  of  Rennison  was  pale  and 
stern.  Storrow  was  the  first  to  break  the  silence.  As 
his  paper  slipped  from  his  trembling  fingers,  he  said: 

"Oh,  it  is  incredible,  Ren — incredible!  The  world  is 

1 


2  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

mad.  Did  not  the  long  and  awful  war  surfeit  it  with 
horrors?  Now  that  all  differences  between  the  nations 
have  been  adjusted  and  the  processes  of  reconstruction 
are  so  well  under  way,  why  should  civilization  be  men- 
anced  by  the  growth  of  this  unseen  power,  which,  so 
mysteriously  and  purposelessly,  is  creating  such  havoc 
on  the  seas,  the  while  it  strives,  in  every  land,  to  shatter 
the  fabric  of  rational  government?" 

Rennison,  tossing  his  newspaper  to  a  chair,  shook  his 
head. 

"There  is  neither  mystery  nor  lack  of  purpose  in  the 
thing,  Storrow,"  he  said,  as  he  proceeded  to  strap  and 
lock  the  last  of  his  four  trunks. 

As  he  turned  from  the  trunk,  Rennison,  who  was  about 
to  leave  Washington  to  become  military  attache  on  the 
staff  of  the  United  States  Embassy  in  London,  glanced 
gravely  around  the  large,  handsomely  furnished  room  in 
which  he  stood.  From  the  walls,  table  and  desk  had 
been  removed  all  those  articles  which  had  invested  the 
apartment  with  something  of  the  character  of  its  occu 
pant.  It  had  been  the  living-room  of  his  bachelor  suite, 
a  favorite  resort  of  his  acquaintances  and  the  scene  of 
ripening  friendships. 

Though  the  two  men  presented  marked  differences 
temperamentally,  Rennison  had  been  rather  more  inti 
mate  with  Storrow  than  with  any  one  else  he  had  met  in 
the  long  period  he  had  been  in  Washington.  Both  were 
popular  in  society,  but  for  different  reasons. 

Rennison,  in  his  thirties,  was  the  only  son  of  a  briga 
dier-general,  who,  while  a  major,  had  married  a  Wash 
ington  society  belle.  Now,  however,  the  elder  Rennison 
and  his  wife  were  dead.  From  his  mother  the  son  had 
inherited  a  small  fortune,  which  included  a  one-hundred- 


THE  HAND  OF  SEAFALCON  3 

acre  estate  on  the  Connecticut  shore  of  Long  Island 
Sound.  On  this  now  lived  his  sister  and  their  aunt. 

Shortly  after  the  young  man's  graduation  from  West 
Point  the  United  States  entered  the  World  War  and 
Rennison  went  overseas  with  a  regiment  of  infantry.  Be 
fore  he  reached  the  battle  area,  however,  an  emergency 
assignment  caused  him  to  reveal  qualities  that  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence.  A 
week  later  he  was  ordered  home,  promoted  to  a  captaincy 
and  made  an  aide  to  the  Chief  of  Staff.  Despite  the 
earnestness  of  his  efforts  to  get  to  the  fighting  front,  he 
was  compelled  to  remain  in  the  United  States  until  the 
end  of  the  war.  Soon  after  the  signing  of  the  armistice 
he  was  sent  to  France  and  Germany,  and  during  the  two 
years  he  was  abroad  all  attempts  made  by  his  friends  to 
learn  his  whereabouts  were  vain.  When  he  reappeared 
in  Washington  it  was  in  his  former  capacity  as  an  aide. 

Despite  his  apparent  fondness  for  society,  Rennison  had 
a  tendency  toward  taciturnity.  In  conversation  this 
sometimes  took  the  form  of  quiet  brusqueness.  His  ha 
bitual  gravity  seemed  to  mask  a  singular  alertness  of 
mind.  He  was  a  quick  observer  and  he  had  a  knack  of 
storing  in  his  memory  incidents  which  others  thought  not 
worthy  of  remembrance.  It  was  noted,  too,  that  his 
choice  of  friends  usually  led  him  to  persons  who  were 
rather  older  than  himself. 

Hayden  Storrow,  a  little  past  forty,  had  inherited  a 
large  fortune  from  his  father,  who,  for  two  terms,  had 
been  a  Senator  from  a  Western  State.  He  was  a  good- 
natured  idler,  with  many  merits  and  few  faults.  He 
belonged  to  fashionable  clubs  in  Washington,  New  York, 
London  and  Paris,  and  was  a  familiar  figure  at  the 


4  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

opera,  horse  shows,  polo  matches,  yacht  races  and  golf 
courses.  Only  twice  had  he  undertaken  responsibilities. 
The  first  of  these  was  marriage;  but  matrimonial  bonds 
had  chafed  his  spirit,  and  he  provided  generously  for  the 
woman  who  divorced  him.  Then  he  bought  a  handsome 
steam  yacht,  but  this,  too,  palled,  and  the  next  season 
he  sold  it. 

What  there  was  in  Rennison  that  so  attracted  the 
idler  to  him  Storrow,  himself,  did  not  understand.  Their 
relations  were  those  of  men  of  equal  age,  but  Storrow 
recognized  the  mind  of  Rennison  as  dominant.  In  the 
young  Army  officer's  conversation  lurked  a  note  of  final 
ity  which  the  idler  rarely  attempted  to  combat.  One  was 
a  sophisticated'  young  thinker,  and  the  other  a  mature, 
cheerful,  well-informed  social  butterfly. 

But,  though  Storrow  often  found  the  young  officer 
preoccupied,  he  never  found  him  dull.  Rennison  was  a 
good  listener.  It  was  plain  that  he  liked  to  hear  Stor 
row  talk.  The  idler,  an  astute  observer  of  men  and 
women,  was  something  of  a  gossip,  with  a  well-defined 
streak  of  good-natured  and  amusing  cynicism.  He  knew 
everybody  who  seemed  to  be  worth  knowing,  and  his  fund 
of  social  anecdotes  was  inexhaustible. 

As  Rennison,  leaving  his  trunk,  moved  moodily  toward 
the  table  near  which  Storrow  was  seated,  the  idler  looked 
at  him  quizzically. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Ren,  when  you  say  there  is 
neither  mystery  nor  lack  of  purpose  in  these  depredations 
of  Seafalcon  and  his  followers?"  Storrow  asked. 

Rennison,  drawing  a  tobacco  pouch  from  one  of  his 
pockets,  seated  himself  near  the  table.  Not  until  he  had 
fillled  and  lighted  his  pipe  did  he  reply. 

"When  I  say  there  is  no  mystery  in  the  thing,  I  mean 


THE  HAND  OF  SEAFALCON  5 

that  both  Seafalcon  and  the  Brotherhood  of  the  Scales, 
of  which  he  is  Chief,  lack  mysterious  attributes,"  he  ex 
plained.  "Though,  for  the  time  being,  our  knowledge  of 
the  personality  of  Seafalcon  is  vague,  his  activities  indi 
cate  that  he  is  little  more  than  a  daring  adventurer,  who, 
taking  advantage  of  present  world-conditions,  has  be 
come  a  modern  buccaneer.  His  success  and  his  pictur 
esque  attributes  naturally  commanded  the  attention  of 
certain  numerous  and  lawless  elements  in  Europe  and  the 
United  States,  and  it  was  not  long  before  these  discov 
ered  that  he  possessed  remarkable  qualities  as  a  leader. 
When  these  elements  were  consolidated  into  that  interna 
tional  organization  which  has  been  designated  the  Brother 
hood  of  the  Scales,  Seafalcon  became  its  chief." 

"You  do  not  believe,  then,  that  the  man  is  an  honest 
fanatic — that  he  has  faith  in  the  dreams  and  doctrines  of 
a  'new  era,*  which  animate  so  many  of  the  subordinate 
leaders  ?" 

"No.  I  think  Seafalcon  is  too  astute  for  that  sort  of 
tiling.  Study  of  every  great  fanatical  movement  of  the 
past  shows  clearly  that,  though  the  movement  itself  was 
of  honest  fanatical  origin,  sooner  or  later  militant  leader 
ship  devolved  on  some  person  who  was  dominated  only 
by  desire  for  financial  gain  or  political  power.  The  lit 
tle  we  know  of  Seafalcon  seems  to  warrant  the  belief  that 
he  is  no  zealot,  but  an  extraordinarily  clever  daredevil 
who  is  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  a  great  adventure — an 
adventure  which  yields  to  him  wealth,  power  and  a  notor 
iety  which,  for  some  years  to  come,  may  pass  as  fame." 

"But  how,  in  Heaven's  name,  did  he  ever  get  such  a 
following — not  only  in  our  own  country,  but  in  the  great 
nations  of  Europe?"  Storrow  asked. 

"The  explanation  is  simple,"  Rennison  replied.     "The 


6  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Brotherhood  is  a  distinctly  unmysterious  product  of  the 
late  war.  It  consists,  in  this  country,  of  several  hundred 
thousand  men  and  women,  naturally  idealistic,  whose  old 
ideals  were  shaken  out  of  them  by  the  great  conflict.  They 
are  of  a  type  that  has  existed  since  the  world  began — the 
unsatisfied,  the  failures,  the  dreamers — the  waste  prod 
ucts  of  civilization.  Centuries  of  civilization  have  failed 
to  eliminate  from  this  type  the  ever-present  tendency  to 
revert  to  savagery.  The  beating  of  a  tom-tom  stirs 
within  them  an  impulse  to  go  headhunting.  The  weird 
rites  of  an  imaginative  charlatan  will  attract  thousands 
of  them  to  a  nonsensical  and  debasing  cult,  which  ignores 
or  defies  the  decencies  of  civilized  life.  Nature,  not  man, 
has  divided  society  into  various  classes.  But  in  every 
class  are  men  and  women  who,  yielding  to  primal  instincts, 
become  ecstatic  when  they  hear  the  beating  of  the  tom 
toms  that  stirred  their  ancestors,  centuries  ago.  And  in 
these  days,  when  humanity  still  is  trembling  from  the 
shock  of  the  great  world  war,  the  beaters  of  the  tom-toms 
— soap-box  orators  and  parlor  socialists — are  making 
hay  while  the  sun  is  shining.  An  orgy  of  criminally 
absurd  law-making,  in  our  Congress  and  State  legis 
latures,  has  put  so  many  'thou  shalt  nots*  on  our  statute 
books  that  every  class  of  our  citizens,  having  some  dis 
tinct  grievance,  has  become  resentful  and  intolerant  of 
legal  restrictions  that  seem  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of 
true  liberty.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  predatory  aliens, 
flocking  annually  to  our  shores,  have  had  citizenship 
granted  to  them  before  they  were  ripe  for  it  and  now 
virtually  dominate  the  government  of  our  cities.  All  con 
ditions  have  been  favorable  for  a  formidable  attack  on 
our  governmental  fabric,  and  so  we  have  the  Brotherhood 
— and  Seafalcon." 


THE  HAND  OF  SEAFALCON  7 

"If  the  movement  were  not  so  manifestly  alien  in  its 
nature,  one  might  be  inclined  to  view  it  as  revolutionary," 
Storrow  muttered. 

"Call  it  what  you  will — a  revolution  or  an  alien  in 
vasion — the  menace  to  our  institutions  is  more  serious 
than  any  we  ever  had  to  face  before,'*  Rennison  went  on. 
"The  French  Revolution  cleared  the  way  for  a  conqueror 
of  France — Napoleon,  without  a  drop  of  French  blood 
in  his  veins.  It  was  Napoleon  who  coined  the  phrase 
'Imagination  rules  the  world.*  It  is  to  this  imagination 
Seafalcon  is  appealing  so  successfully  as  he  beats  his 
tom-tom.'* 

"Why  compare  such  a  man  with  Napoleon?"  Storrow 
protested.  "Napoleon  was  dominated  by  imperial  ambi 
tion.  This  man,  as  you  have  said,  must  be  regarded  as  a 
modern  buccaneer.  Whenever  his  submarines  halt  a  ship, 
it  and  its  passengers  are  searched  before  destruction  is 
effected.  Money  and  jewelry,  food  and  oil  are  all  the 
marauders  take  from  each  doomed  vessel,  and  the  ships  of 
all  nations  are  subjected  to  attack.  Do  you  share  the 
belief  that  Seafalcon  is  an  American?" 

"It  is  known  that  his  accent  is  rather  more  American 
than  English,"  Rennison  answered,  shortly. 

"But  how  did  he  get  possession  of  such  a  fleet  of  sub 
marines?"  Storrow  asked. 

"We  do  not  know  that  he  has  more  than  three  or  four," 
said  Rennison.  "It  is  probable  that  these  formerly  be 
longed  to  the  German  Navy  and  were  secreted  on  one  or 
more  unfrequented  coasts  at  the  close  of  the  war.  In  the 
Brotherhood  ranks  there  doubtless  are  scores  of  men  who 
have  had  service  as  submarine  sailors  or  mechanics. 
These  probably  have  effected  their  complete  repair  and 
are  engaged  in  their  operation." 


8  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"But  where  are  their  bases?" 

"There  are  numerous  islands,  used  by  the  freebooters 
in  the  old  days,  and  well  out  of  the  track  of  vessels  now, 
that  would  serve  the  purpose.  Some  of  these  are  in  the 
Tropics,  others  are  washed  by  Arctic  waters." 

"Do  you  think  the  situation  on  land,  so  far  as  the 
activities  of  the  Brotherhood  are  concerned,  will  ever  be 
come  as  serious  as  it  is  now  on  the  sea?" 

"Well,  we  know  that  every  city  in  the  United  States  is 
filled  with  the  spies  of  Seafalcon.  All  classes  of  society 
are  so  affected  that  it  has  become  difficult  to  distinguish 
between  friends  and  foes." 

"But  even  though  London  is  as  disturbed  as  Washing 
ton  and  New  York  over  the  thing,  I  can't  quite  make  out, 
Ren,  why  our  Government  is  sending  you  there,"  Storrow 
grumbled. 

"What  would  I,  a  military  attache,  have  to  do  with 
the  situation?"  Rennison  asked.  "The  Army  isn't  in  it 
— yet — you  know." 

"What  is  the  use  of  trying  to  deceive  me,  Ren?"  Stor 
row  demanded,  irritably.  "Surely,  by  this  time  you  must 
have  suspected  that  I  know  why  it  was  the  War  Depart 
ment  refused  to  allow  you  to  go  to  the  front  during  the 
war." 

Scarcely  were  the  words  spoken  when  the  idler  flushed 
violently.  Instinct  told  him  he  had  said  too  much,  and  he 
glanced  anxiously  at  his  companion.  He  saw  that  over 
the  well-moulded,  dark-complexioned  face  on  the  other 
side  of  the  table  there  had  come  a  change.  There  had 
been  a  quick  flush  of  resentment,  but  the  features  now 
were  inscrutable.  The  gray  eyes  that  were  regarding 
him  were  no  longer  distinguished  by  the  penetrating  qual- 


THE  HAND  OF  SEAFALCON  9 

ity  of  their  gaze — a  gaze  that  now  was  suggestive  of 
dreaminess. 

"What  was  the  reason,  Storrow?"  Rennison  asked, 
quietly. 

"A  good  one,  Ren,"  the  idler  replied  defiantly,  after  a 
brief  period  of  uncomfortable  hesitation.  "It  was  be 
cause  the  department  knew  that  if  you  went  into  the 
trenches  it  would  not  find  in  the  United  States  Army  a 
man  who  was  capable  of  taking  your  place  outside  of 
them." 

"My  place  has  been  that  of  an  aide  to  the  Chief  of 
Staff,"  Rennison  answered  coldly.  "My  successor  has 
been  found  and  has  been  appointed." 

"The  office,  so  far  as  you  were  concerned,  was  purely 
nominal,  as  that  of  military  attache  in  London  will  be," 
Storrow  retorted.  "Your  real  office  is  one  you  will  carry 
with  you  wherever  you  may  go,  Ren.  Young  as  you  are, 
and  humble  as  your  military  rank  may  be,  you  are  the 
superman  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence — the 
peer  of  every  Government  investigator  in  the  United 
States.  If  you  are  being  sent  to  London,  it  is  because 
some  trail  has  been  found  there  that  leads  to  the  haunts 
of  Seafalcon — if,  indeed,  you  are  going  to  London  at  all. 
There  are  times  when  I — — " 

An  electric  bell  rang  sharply  in  the  hall.  Rennison 
rose  quickly. 

"Probably  the  expressman  for  my  trunks,"  he  muttered, 
and  hurried  to  the  door. 


CHAPTER  II. 

A   BOLT   FEOM   THE   BLUE. 

RENNISON'S  surmise  proved  to  be  correct.  Two  men  en 
tered  and  soon  had  the  trunks  in  the  hall.  When  the 
door  of  the  suite  was  closed  behind  the  expressmen,  Ren- 
nison  returned  to  the  table  at  which  he  had  left  his  friend. 
As  he  sat  down  he  glanced  at  his  watch. 

"I  must  be  leaving  in  half  an  hour,  Storrow,"  he  said, 
carelessly. 

"My  car  is  waiting  at  the  door,"  suggested  his  visitor. 
"I'll  get  you  to  the  Union  Station  in  ten  minutes." 

Rcnnison  nodded  shortly,  and,  with  his  thumb,  ab 
stractedly  stroked  the  crystal  of  his  watch.  Then,  lean 
ing  forward,  with  his  elbows  resting  on  his  knees,  he 
addressed  his  companion. 

"Well,  let's  get  back  to  where  we  were  when  we  were 
interrupted,"  he  said.  "You  have  told  me  that  you 
have  received  a  certain  impression  concerning  the  nature 
of  my  services  in  the  interest  of  the  Government.  Do 
you  come  by  that  impression  as  a  result  of  information, 
personal  observation  or  mere  speculation !"  He  frowned 
as  the  idler  hesitated,  then  added,  irritably :  "Come,  out 
with  it  Storrow.  We  must  have  no  verbal  fencing  now." 

The  eyes  into  which  Storrow  was  looking  were  hard 
and  cold. 

"A  combination  of  all,  I  think,  Ren,"  Storrow  answered, 
uneasily. 

"What  was  the  source  of  your  information?'* 

10 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE  11 

"Mrs.  Hallingwell  was  the  first  to  suggest  it  to  me,  I 
believe." 

"Lena  Hallingwell?" 

"Yes.  As  you  know,  she  is  pretty  close  to  some  of  the 
members  of  the  diplomatic  set.  One  day,  while  we  were 
talking  together,  she  spoke  of  your  friendship  with  me. 
The  lady  was  not  in  good  humor,  and  remarked,  quite 
unpleasantly,  that  you  probably  found  my  intimate  knowl 
edge  of  society  useful  in  the  course  of  your  activities 
while  checking  ambitious  diplomatic  designs.  She  ap 
parently  holds  you  responsible  for  the  manner  in  which' 
certain  important  official  documents  were  taken  from  a 
foreign  diplomatic  agent  and  delivered  to  the  United 
States  Department  of  State." 

"How  long  has  it  been  since  she  told  you  this?" 

"About  four  weeks  ago,  I  should  say." 

"Until  then  you  had  heard  nothing  of  the  kind  from 
others?" 

"I  knew  representatives  of  the  Secret  Service  came  to 
your  apartment  from  time  to  time,  and  that,  occasionally, 
you  met  them  elsewhere.  But  it  was  not  until  last  night 
that  Chisholm,  at  the  Metropolitan  Club,  came  to  me  with 
the  final  revelation." 

"Revelation,  eh!"  Rennison  exclaimed,  quietly. 

The  gossippy  Storrow  went  on: 

"Chisholm,  as  you  doubtless  know,  has  been  sort  of 
befriending  Lloyd  Louck,  the  banker  who  was  convicted  of 
embezzlement,  and  who  recently  has  been  released  from 
the  Atlanta  Penitentiary.  There,  Louck  says,  strange" 
stories  are  told  by  men  who  believe  that  you,  who  never 
appeared  in  court  against  them,  were  primarily  respon 
sible  for  their  conviction.  They  tell  of  your  appearances 
at  unexpected  times  and  places,  and  they  assert  that  per- 


12  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

sons  who  have  testified  against  offenders  in  the  Federal 
courts,  and  who  receive  credit  for  their  convictions, 
merely  are  pawns  that  are  moved  by  you." 

"Is  that  all  they  say?"  Rennison  asked,  abstractedly. 

"No,  Ren.  They  say  also  that  some  of  the  offenders 
you  go  after  never  get  into  court  at  all — that,  when 
crime  is  fastened  upon  them,  they  disappear  mysteriously, 
or  meet  violent  ends  that  never  are  satisfactorily  ex 
plained." 

"I  am  regarded,  then,  not  only  as  a  Government  sleuth, 
but  as  a  sort  of  secret  official  executioner?" 

The  face  of  Storrow  had  lost  its  natural  ruddy  color. 
As  he  raised  his  cigar  to  his  lips  the  hand  that  held  it 
trembled  slightly. 

"I  wouldn't  put  it  that  way,  Ren,"  he  protested  quietly. 
"There  does  seem  to  be  an  impression,  however,  that  you 
are  an  inquisitor,  with  power,  in  certain  circumstances, 
to  impose  sentences  on  guilty  persons,  who,  for  reasons 
best  known  to  our  Government,  are  not  taken  into  our 
courts." 

Again  Rennison  glanced  at  his  watch.  As  he  passed  a 
thumb  over  the  dial,  he  looked  thoughtfully  at  the  floor. 

"This  is  a  queer  character  you  are  giving  me,  Storrow," 
he  said. 

"I  am  not  giving  it  to  you,  my  dear  fellow,"  Storrow 
protested  quickly.  "I  am  merely  repeating  what  I  have 
heard  from  others.  Such  stories  are  interesting,  of  course, 
but  I  doubt  not  that  they  are  exaggerated." 

"But  you  do  believe  I  am  a  potent  force  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  enemies  of  our  Government?" 

Storrow  hesitated.  The  gaze  of  Rennison's  gray  eyes 
was  chill  and  penetrating  now.  It  was  in  vain  that  the 
visitor  attempted  to  evade  it. 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE  13 

"Well — why — why,  yes,  Ren,"  he  faltered.  "In  view 
of  all  I  have  heard,  I  am  compelled  to  believe  that,  se 
cretly,  you,  more  than  any  other  man  in  the  United  States, 
are  to  be  feared  by  enemies  of  the  Federal  Government — 
whether  they  be  native  Americans  or  aliens." 

For  several  moments,  Rennison,  looking  at  the  tip  of 
his  cigar,  was  silent,  then  meeting  Storrow's  gaze  fairly, 
he  said: 

"Very  good,  Storrow.  Inasmuch  as  you  have  confessed 
such  a  belief,  I  will  put  it  to  the  test  by  giving  to  you 
certain  directions,  with  the  warning  that  failure  to  fol 
low  them  implicitly  is  likely  to  involve  you  in  serious 
trouble." 

Storrow,  though  manifestly  disturbed,  smiled  scepti 
cally  as  Rennison  went  on : 

"The  directions  are  these:  The  train  which  will  take 
me  from  Washington  at  five-thirty  this  afternoon  will 
leave  at  the  same  hour  to-morrow.  It  is  imperative  that 
you  take  it.  Your  continued  presence  in  Washington  is 
undesirable,  and  you  must  leave  the  city — quickly." 

Over  the  face  of  Storrow  came  an  expression  of  dazed 
wonder  and  slowly  growing  resentment. 

"In  Heaven's  name,  Ren —  "  he  faltered. 

"When  you  reach  New  York,  you  will  take  the  first 
train  you  can  catch  for  Montreal,"  Rennison  continued. 
"From  Montreal  you  may  go  to  any  part  of  Western 
Canada  you  please.  It  is  nearing  the  end  of  May,  and 
the  Washington  season  is  about  over.  For  this  reason 
you  will  be  making  no  sacrifice  in  leaving  the  capital. 
The  climate  of  Canada  in  the  Summer  months  is  delight 
ful.  The  scenery  is  superb.  The  hunting,  fishing  and 
boating  cannot  be  surpassed  in  any  other  section  of  our 
continent.  But  you  must  keep  out  of  the  United  States 


14  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

— at  least  until  the  beginning  of  the  next  year.  Indeed, 
Storrow,  I  truly  envy  you  the  prospect  which  I  am  indi 
cating  to  you.  You  will  have  my  best  wishes — while  you 
are  in  Canada." 

Storrow's  features  were  flushed  with  anger  as  he  rose. 

"What  the  devil  do  you  mean  by  such  a  proceeding  as 
this,  Rennison?"  he  demanded.  "You  speak  as  if  I  were 
some  criminal." 

"In  some  respects  you  are  more  to  be  feared  than  some 
criminals,"  Rennison  retorted.  "You  are  a  blunderer. 
As  long  as  dangerous  knowledge  is  kept  from  you,  you 
are  harmless  enough.  But  you  are  gossippy,  and  rather 
too  fond  of  beautiful  women.  My  friendship  for  you  has 
been  sincere- — and  will  be,  so  long  as  you  are  harmless. 
But  our  Government  now  is  confronting  one  of  the  most 
desperate  situations  it  ever  has  faced.  During  the  recent 
world  war,  we  knew  who  our  enemies  were  and  we  were 
able  to  concentrate  our  various  elements  of  power  for 
effective  resistance.  Now,  however,  every  civilized  nation 
in  the  world  is  confronted  by  powerful  and  ruthless  foes 
who  evade  identification — foes  who  are  part  of  their  own 
people — all  dominated  by  this  marauder,  Seafalcon.  Men 
who  are  your  friends  to-day  may  be  your  country's  ene 
mies  to-morrow.  This  threatened  revolution  knows  no 
class,  and  its  agents,  like  moths,  are  eating  their  way  into 
the  fabric  of  our  national  liberty — right  here — in  Wash 
ington." 

"Surely,  Rennison,  you  do  not  suspect  that  I — "  de 
manded  the  astonished  and  angry  Storrow. 

"I  do  not  question  your  loyalty,"  Rennison  assured 
him.  "But,  as  I  have  said,  you  are  a  blunderer.  You 
have  an  unfortunate  faculty  for  picking  up  valuable  in 
formation,  and,  without  suspecting  its  grave  importance, 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE  15 

tattling  it — to  persons  it  should  not  reach.  Quite  inno 
cently,  you  did  this  sort  of  thing  several  times  during  the 
war.  It  is  essential  now  that  you  should  not  repeat  such 
indiscretions.  And  so  I  am  advising  you — for  your  own 
good  and  the  good  of  our  country — to  go  to  Canada — 
for  recuperation.  A  continued  sojourn  here  might  entail 
disastrous  consequences." 

"I  will  grant,  Rennison,  that  you  were  right  when  you 
declared  me  to  be  a  blunderer,"  Storrow  said,  bitterly. 
"Had  I  not  been  a  blunderer  I  would  not  have  come  to  you 
to-day  to  warn  you  against  this  sudden  outcrop  of 
strange  rumors  concerning  your  activities." 

"I  thank  you  for  your  coming,  Storrow,"  Rennison 
replied,  in  a  more  kindly  tone.  "But  the  fact  remains 
that  you,  conversing  with  certain  persons  who  are  re 
garded  with  suspicion  by  the  Government,  have  obtained 
information  which  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  Government 
should  not  be  repeated." 

"In  such  circumstances  I  should  not  repeat  to  others 
than  yourself  what  I  have  learned,"  said  Storrow. 
"Moreover,  what  I  have  told  you  concerning  rumors 
that  have  to  do  with  you  is  becoming  common  talk  in  the 
clubs." 

"Common  talk,  eh !"  Rennison  muttered,  thoughtfully. 

"Well,  not  common  talk,  perhaps,  but —  "  Storrow  fal 
tered. 

"But  it  is  rumored  that  I  am  something  more  than  a 
mere  captain  in  the  Army,"  Rennison  went  on.  "You  have 
said  it  is  reported  that  I  am  regarded  as  an  important 
investigator  in  the  Government  service — that  I  am  feared 
by  enemies  of  our  country." 

"Yes,  Rennison — that  is  true." 

"Then  has  it  not  occurred  to  you  that  I  may  be  a 


16  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

marked  man — that  my  usefulness  to  the  Government  has 
been  impaired  by  publicity — that  because  of  this  fact 
it  has  been  decided  that  I  should  be  sent  abroad?" 

"No,  Ren.  I  must  confess  that  I  did  not  reason  it  out 
that  way." 

"That  is  unfortunate,  for  if  you  had  done  so  you  would 
have  realized  that  you  also,  having  been  regarded  as  one 
of  my  more  intimate  friends,  might  be  under  suspicion 
as  aiding  me  in  my  work  for  the  Government.  It  might 
have  occurred  to  you,  too,  that,  for  this  reason,  enemies 
that  were  disposed  to  conspire  to  take  my  life  might  have 
the  same  intentions  concerning  yours." 

The  light  of  new  understanding  dawned  now  in  Stor- 
row's  mind. 

"I  see  your  drift,  Ren — I  see,"  he  muttered,  gazing 
moodily  at  the  floor. 

Rennison  was  about  to  speak  when  the  bell  of  the  tele 
phone,  which  stood  on  the  table,  rang  viciously. 

Rennison,  frowning,  took  down  the  receiver  and  placed 
it  to  one  of  his  ears. 

"Well?"  he  responded. 

"That  you  Rennison?"  came  the  query. 

"Yes." 

"Brownell  is   speaking." 

"Yes,  Brownell." 

"The  last  order  is  off — all  changed.  Do  you  under 
stand?" 

The  face  of  Rennison  darkened  as  he  answered: 

"Yes." 

"Get  to  nine-thirteen  at  once.     It's  prime  and  quick." 

"All  right,  Brownell,"  Rennison  muttered. 

The  frown  on  the  face  of  the  young  officer  grew  darker, 
as,  with  an  angry  movement,  he  thrust  the  receiver  back 


17 

on  its  hook.  Storrow,  watching  him  closely,  saw  some 
thing  had  gone  wrong,  but  he  asked  no  questions. 

"I  thank  you,  old  man,  for  the  offer  of  your  car,"  Ren- 
nison  said,  shortly.  "But  I  will  not  need  it." 

"You  are  not  going  north  to-night?'* 

"Not  on  the  five-thirty." 

As  he  spoke,  Rennison  leaned  forward  and  hid  his  face 
in  his  hands. 

A  strange,  enigmatical  smile  played  on  the  features  of 
the  idler;  but  he  sobered  suddenly  as  he  saw,  between  the 
spreading  fingers  of  the  Army  officer,  the  glint  of  a  pair 
of  watching  eyes. 

Rennison,  rising  slowly,  looked  fixedly  at  his  visitor. 

"But  another  five-thirty  leaves  to-morrow  afternoon," 
he  said,  grimly.  "You'll  take  it — en  route  for  Canada?" 

"No,"  replied  the  millionaire.  "I'm  going  to  wait — 
and  see." 

Storrow  stepped  briskly  to  where  his  cane  and  hat  lay 
upon  a  chair.  The  hat  was  a  Panama,  with  a  black  band. 
The  owner  looked  it  over  critically  before  he  placed  it 
on  his  head.  Then  he  picked  up  the  cane.  From  this 
cane  he  was  inseparable.  It  went  with  him  everywhere. 
On  some  days  he  changed  his  clothes  three  or  four  times, 
but  the  cane  he  carried  was  always  the  same.  It  was  of 
Malacca  wood,  with  a  very  yellow  ivory  head,  delicately 
carved  in  an  East  Indian  design. 

Having  thus  accoutred  himself  for  the  street,  Storrow 
turned  again  to  his  host.  Nearly  six  feet  in  height,  the 
idler's  was  a  goodly  figure  to  look  upon — erect,  graceful, 
but  with  a  tendency  to  stoutness.  His  oval  face  was 
ruddy ;  his  shining  eyes  were  brown,  and  his  thick,  slightly 
curling  black  hair  was  a  little  gray  at  the  temples. 

"Well,  Ren,  if  you  do  not  go  to-night,  when  am  I  to  see 


18  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

you  again?"  he  asked  cheerfully,  with  a  half -mocking 
smile. 

"Really,  I  do  not  know,"  Rennison  answered  gravely. 

Storrow  moved  toward  his  host. 

"You'll  shake  hands,  of  course,  Ren,"  he  said. 

"Of  course." 

Their  hands  met ;  then  Storrow  started  toward  the  door. 
There  he  halted. 

"You  were  truly  serious  concerning  that  Canadian 
suggestion  of  yours?"  he  asked. 

"I  never  made  a  suggestion  more  seriously,  Storrow," 
Rennison  replied. 

Storrow  hesitated;  then,  with  a  little  laugh,  he  left 
the  room. 

When  his  visitor  was  gone,  Rennison  moodily  crossed 
to  a  sofa  on  which  his  hat,  umbrella,  walking-stick  and 
raincoat  lay  beside  his  suit-case  and  travelling  bag.  He 
picked  up  the  hat  and  walking-stick  and  went  out  to  the 
hall.  On  an  elevator  he  descended  to  the  main  floor  of 
the  apartment  hotel.  There  he  stepped  to  the  office 
desk,  and,  addressing  the  clerk,  said: 

"Mr.  Friedman,  though  my  effects  have  been  removed 
from  my  apartment,  it  is  possible  that  I  may  have  to 
remain  in  Washington  for  a  few  days  longer.  You  have 
not  rented  the  rooms  to  some  one  else?" 

The  clerk  hastened  to  assure  him  that  the  rooms  would 
be  at  his  disposal  as  long  as  he  might  require  them.  Ren 
nison  then  went  to  the  street,  hailed  a  taxi  and  directed 
the  driver  to  put  him  down  at  the  Navy  Department. 
Upon  his  arrival  at  his  destination,  he  dismissed  the 
chauffeur,  entered  the  building  and  hurried  along  a  cor 
ridor.  The  door  he  opened  was  that  of  a  room  near  the 


A  BOLT  FROM  THE  BLUE  19 

private  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy.  Here  he  was 
met  by  a  negro  attendant,  who  smiled  suavely. 

"All  right,  Cap'n  Ren'son — it's  all  right  fo'  you'  to 
go  right  in,  sah,"  said  the  man.  "I  was  tole  to  show  yo* 
in  at  once,  sah.  I  reckon  yo'll  fin'  yo'se'f  'spected." 

Rennison  smiled  perfunctorily,  nodded,  and  passed 
through  the  door  the  attendant  opened  for  him.  When  he 
had  crossed  the  threshold,  the  door  clicked  softly  behind 
him. 


CHAPTER  III. 

A  MULTIPLE  CEIME. 

As  Rennison  advanced  slowly  into  the  room,  he  saw  five 
men  seated  at  a  table — Horsford,  one  of  the  Assistant 
Secretaries  of  the  Department ;  Towndrow,  of  the  Secret 
Service ;  Captain  Reif  snyder,  of  the  Naval  Bureau  of  Ex 
perimentation  ;  Colonel  Hawkshurst,  of  the  Bureau  of  Mil 
itary  Intelligence,  and  Captain  Merschon,  of  the  Bureau 
of  Naval  Intelligence. 

Assistant  Secretary  Horsford  rose  quickly  and  with 
unwonted  awkwardness.  As  he  moved  a  chair  toward  the 
table,  he  said : 

"Captain,  we  need  you.  Sit  down  here.  We  are  in 
trouble — grave  trouble,  but  so  long  as  it  had  to  come  to 
us,  it  is  fortunate  that  the  blow  fell  before  you  got  away 
from  our  shores.  We  are  confronted  by  one  of  the  most 
desperate  situations  our  Government  ever  has  had  to  face 
— a  situation  that  demands  thought  and  action  of  almost 
lightning-like  celerity.  And  each  move,  quickly  as  it 
must  be  effected,  must  be  sure — straight  in  the  direction 
of  our  object.  A  single  misstep  might  mar  all." 

The  voice  of  Horsford  was  low  and  shaking.  As  Ren 
nison  seated  himself  on  the  proffered  chair,  he  laid  his  hat 
and  walking  stick  on  the  table  and  glanced  about  him. 
Upon  him  rested  the  gaze  of  each  pair  of  eyes.  But  it 
was  only  the  gaze  of  Towndrow,  of  the  Secret  Service,  that 
held  his  own.  He  knew  that,  in  the  past,  Towndrow  had 

20 


A  MULTIPLE  CRIME  21 

disliked  him.  Why  this  should  be  he  never  was  able  to 
understand,  for  Towndrow  was  as  loyal  as  he  was  brainy, 
and  appeared  to  be  devoid  of  professional  jealousy.  He 
and  Towndrow  often  had  worked  together,  faithfully  and 
efficiently,  but,  temperamentally,  they  had  always  clashed. 

Now,  however,  Ilennison  was  conscious  of  the  fact  that 
the  Secret  Service  man  was  regarding  him  with  an  expres 
sion  of  eloquent,  though  mute,  appeal.  It  was  plain, 
something  had  occurred  that  had  baffled  even  the  resource 
ful  and  confident  Towndrow. 

Horsford,  seating  himself  at  the  table,  at  Rennison's 
left,  went  on: 

"Inasmuch  as  the  situation  requires  haste,  I  will  out 
line  it  to  you  as  briefly  and  as  quickly  as  I  can.  It  has 
to  do  with  the  activities  of  Seafalcon.  As  you  know,  the 
destiny  of  the  Brotherhood  and  its  threatened  revolution 
is  largely  dependent  on  the  success  of  that  wretched  free 
booter  on  the  seas.  Should  we  be  successful  in  our  at 
tempts  to  capture  Seafalcon,  or  send  him  to  the  bottom 
of  the  Atlantic  in  one  of  his  submarines,  there  is  little 
doubt  but  that  each  of  the  great  powers  would  be  able  to 
bring  to  an  end  all  land  activities  of  the  Brotherhood 
within  its  borders.  The  task  of  capturing  or  destroying 
the  Seafalcon  submarines,  therefore,  is  one  of  the  most 
serious  problems  that  the  navies  of  the  world  ever  had  to 
face.  Three  days  ago  we  solved  the  problem.  To-day  we 
lost  the  solution.'* 

"Lost  it !"  Rennison  muttered,  incredulously. 

"Exactly  that — by  the  destruction  of  a  motor-boat,  at 
Haynerville,  Long  Island,  and  a  murder,  about  an  hour 
ago,  in  the  Hotel  Weymouthshire,  within  ten  minutes  walk 
of  where  we  are  sitting  now." 

Horsford  looked  at  Rennison  impressively,  but  the  fea- 


22  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

tures  of  the  young  officer  were  inexpressive.  His  dreamy 
gaze  was  suggestive  of  indifference.  Only  the  watching 
Towndrow  recognized  the  significance  of  this  attitude. 
In  the  course  of  friendly  conversation  the  face  of  Ren- 
nison  would  brighten  with  pleasure  or  soften  with  sym 
pathy,  but  when  he  heard  the  trumpet  call  to  action  he 
assumed  this  mask  of  indifference,  in  the  spirit  in  which 
a  knight  of  the  olden  time  drew  down  his  visor. 

"At  what  time  was  the  motor-boat  destroyed?'*  he 
asked. 

"At  nine-thirty  this  morning." 

"What  relation  did  the  boat  bear  to  the  Seafalcon  sub 
marine  problem?" 

"The  boat  was  equipped  with  a  device  which  had  been 
demonstrated  to  be  unerringly  effective  in  locating  and 
recording  the  movements  of  all  moving  steam  vessels,  in 
cluding  submerged  submarines,  within  a  radius  of  fifteen 
miles.  This  equipment,  of  an  exceedingly  intricate  and 
delicate  nature,  was  the  only  piece  of  mechanism  of  its 
kind  that  ever  had  been  produced  by  its  inventor,  who 
guarded  his  discovery  so  jealously  that  he  applied  for  no 
patent,  and  never  showed  to  any  official  of  the  Navy  any 
plan  or  specification  employed  in  the  construction  of  the 
device.  All  experiments  had  been  made  at  his  own  ex 
pense.  The  motor-boat,  however,  had  been  placed  at  his 
service  by  our  department.  It  was  one  of  the  submarine 
chasers  built  for  the  Government  during  the  late  war.  It 
was  turned  over  to  the  inventor  of  the  device  two  weeks 
ago." 

"What  is  the  name  of  the  inventor?'* 

"Oliver  Channing.  He  was  only  twenty-six  years  old, 
and  was  professor  of  chemistry  in  a  New  York  college. 
He  had  apartments  in  that  city,  but  was  unmarried.  His 


A  MULTIPLE  CRIME  23 

laboratory  was  in  a  little  village  in  New  Jersey — Louden- 
field." 

"Inasmuch  as  you  say  he  was  twenty-six  years  old,  I 
am  to  infer  it  was  Channing  who  was  murdered  in  the 
Weymouthshire  this  afternoon?" 

"Exactly." 

Horsford,  a  lean,  elderly  man,  rose  nervously,  clasped 
and  unclasped  his  shaking  hands,  then  pressed  them  to  his 
eyes.  His  agitation  indicated  that  he  was  on  the  verge  of 
collapse.  Rennison,  glancing  at  his  watch,  saw  it  was 
ten  minutes  after  five. 

As  the  Assistant  Secretary  reseated  himself,  Towndrow, 
resting  his  folded  arms  on  the  table,  leaned  forward  and 
spoke. 

"Mr.  Horsford,"  he  said,  "what  little  that  is  known 
concerning  this  affair  has  been  communicated  to  me.  As 
prompt  action  is  imperative,  we  might  save  time,  perhaps, 
if  I  were  to  summarize  the  case  for  Captain  Rennison,  in 
such  a  manner  as  I  would  wish  him  to  summarize  it  for 
me.  With  your  permission,  and  his,  I  will  do  so." 

"Yes — yes,  Towndrow — go  ahead,"  Horsford  assented, 
quickly. 

"This  boat,  the  Dragonfly,  equipped  with  Channing's 
apparatus,  had  its  first,  and  only,  official  trial  three  days 
ago,"  Towndrow  began.  "In  order  to  assure  secrecy, 
the  boat  was  handled  by  only  five  men — a  lieutenant, 
boatswain,  two  seamen  and  an  engineer.  The  others  on 
board  were  Channing  and  three  representatives  of  the 
Navy  Department,  who  were  there  to  pass  on  the  merits 
of  the  invention.  They  were  Rear-Admiral  Longley,  Cap 
tain  Reifsnyder  and  Commander  Withesley,  all  experts  on 
the  subject  of  navigation. 

"Channing  manipulated  his  device  without  assistance 


24,  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

from  others.  He  revealed  only  effects,  but  carefully  re 
frained  from  explaining  the  causes  which  produced  them. 
The  demonstration  was  as  astonishing  as  it  was  con 
vincing. 

"Seated  in  a  darkened  cabin,  below  the  deck,  Channing 
had  in  front  of  him,  in  a  nearly  horizontal  position,  what 
appeared  to  be  the  head  of  a  bass  drum,"  about  four  feet 
in  diameter.  Outlined  on  the  white  surface  of  this  was 
what  might  be  described  as  a  checkered  heart.  By  this 
I  mean  the  heart  was  divided  into  squares,  each  of  which 
bore  a  number,  the  numbers,  like  the  lines,  being  only 
faintly  perceptible.  This  big  disc  was  lighted  by  a  ray 
which  was  projected  upon  it  from  a  cylinder  near  the 
roof  of  the  cabin." 

Towndrow  paused  as  Rennison  nodded  curtly. 

"As  an  army  man,  familiar  with  the  use  of  mortar  bat 
teries,  the  significance  of  what  I  have  described  is  clear 
to  you,"  Towndrow  went  on.  "It  represents,  in  this  in 
stance,  however,  a  new  application  of  the  principle  of  the 
camera  obscura.  On  such  a  disc  the  director  of  a  mortar 
battery  may  see  distant  ships  move  from  square  to  square ; 
but  this  man,  Channing,  achieved  something  which  seemed 
little  short  of  supernatural,  for  on  this  disc  he  revealed 
the  movements  of  every  screw-propelled  vessel,  whether 
afloat  or  submerged,  by  night  as  well  as  by  day,  within  a 
radius  of  fifteen  miles !" 

Rennison  stiffened  suddenly.  No  assumption  of  indif 
ference  was  masking  his  new-born  interest.  His  face  had 
lengthened,  and  his  eyes  were  alight  with  wonder.  Hors- 
ford,  leaning  toward  him,  clutched  his  shoulder. 

"And  all  this  the  poor  fellow  demonstrated  beyond  the 
peradventure  of  a  doubt!"  the  Assistant  Secretary  said, 
in  a  quavering  voice. 


A  MULTIPLE  CRIME  25 

"It  appears,  therefore,  that  Channing  had  discovered 
some  method  whereby  it  was  not  only  possible  to  detect 
the  presence  of  a  moving  screw  within  a  radius  of  fifteen 
miles,  but  to  measure  accurately  the  distance  to  that 
point,  and  to  vizualize  on  the  screen  the  changing  posi 
tions  of  the  vibrating  object,"  explained  Captain  Reif- 
snyder,  of  the  Bureau  of  Experimentation. 

"The  only  defect  in  the  device  lay  in  the  fact  that  it 
was  inoperative  while  the  screw  of  its  own  vessel  was 
vibrating,"  muttered  Captain  Merschon,  of  the  Bureau  of 
Naval  Intelligence.  "If—" 

"Those  are  details  with  which  we  have  nothing  to  do 
just  now,"  Rennison  interrupted  impatiently,  and  once 
more  he  turned  to  Towndrow. 

"As  Mr.  Horsford  has  told  you,  the  test  was  success 
ful,"  Towndrow  went  on,  quickly.  "Carefully  guarded  by 
two  submarines,  a  destroyer  and  four  small  motor  boats, 
the  Dragonfly  was  anchored  about  twenty  yards  off  the 
pier  of  a  shipyard  at  Haynerville,  Long  Island.  Chan- 
iiing  remained  alone  on  the  boat  until  five  o'clock  yester 
day  afternoon.  He  then  was  notified  that  the  Govern 
ment  had  accepted  his  device,  and  that  he  should  report 
at  the  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  at  five  o'clock 
this  afternoon,  for  the  purpose  of  signing  the  necessary 
transfer  papers,  supplying  to  the  proper  authority  all 
details  concerning  the  construction  and  operation  of  his 
invention  and  receiving  from  the  Government  a  commis 
sion  as  director  of  its  manufacture.  I  may  say  here  that 
Channing  had  declined  to  accept  any  payment  for  the 
transfer  of  his  device  to  the  Government,  but  was  to  be 
compensated  for  his  services  as  director  of  manufacture." 

"He  was  a  man  of  independent  means,  then?"  Rennison 
asked. 


26  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Yes,"  Horsford  replied.  "He  inherited  a  moderate 
fortune  from  his  father.  It  was  not  as  a  means  of  liveli 
hood  that  he  served  as  a  professor.'* 

"Well,  we  last  had  Channing  leaving  Haynerville," 
Rennison  said,  curtly.  "What  happened  to  him  after 
that?" 

"From  Haynerville  he  went  to  New  York  City,  and 
thence  to  his  laboratory,  in  Loudenfield,  New  Jersey," 
Towndrow  continued.  "There  he  spent  the  night.  He 
left  Loudenfield  this  morning,  in  time  to  take  the  nine 
o'clock  morning  train  from  New  York  for  Washington." 

"You  have  reason  to  believe  he  took  that  train?"  Ren 
nison  queried. 

"Yes,'*  answered  Horsford.  "In  a  telegram  dated  in 
New  York  at  eight-fifty  this  morning,  and  addressed  to 
me,  he  told  me  of  this  purpose." 

"Did  he  come  on  to  Washington  alone?" 

"We  think  so,  but  are  not  positive  as  to  that.  We 
have  learned,  however,  that  he  was  alone  when  he  entered 
the  Weymouthshire — that  he  was  alone  when  he  went  to 
his  room,  at  three  thirty-five." 

"Was  he  seen  by  any  one  after  that?" 

"Not  alive — except  by  the  person  who  is  supposed  to 
have  caused  his  death,"  Towndrow  answered. 

"Supposed  to  have  caused  his  death,"  Rennison  ex 
claimed. 

"The  circumstances  are  peculiar,  Captain,"  Towndrow 
explained,  after  a  pause.  "At  four  o'clock,  a  bellboy, 
passing  through  the  hall,  saw  the  door  of  Room  415  was 
not  quite  closed.  The  boy  knew,  as  a  result  of  experience 
with  it,  that,  owing  to  a  defect  in  the  woodwork,  it  could 
be  closed  only  with  a  little  difficulty.  When  he  attempted 


A  MULTIPLE  CRIME  27 

to  close  it  securely  now,  it  resisted  the  effort.  The  boy 
then  saw  that  the  lock  had  been  thrown  apparently  by  a 
person  leaving  the  room  in  haste,  and  with  the  impression 
that  he  or  she  had  locked  the  door.  The  key  was  with 
drawn." 

"The  boy  thrust  open  the  door  and  entered  the  room. 
Only  a  few  inches  beyond  the  door's  range  of  swing  he 
saw,  on  the  floor,  the  body  of  a  man.  The  boy  tele 
phoned  to  the  hotel  office,  and  the  police  were  notified. 
In  ten  minutes  Coughlin,  the  best  of  Washington's  local 
detectives,  was  on  the  scene.  A  superficial  examination 
of  the  body  revealed  no  mark  of  violence.  It  was  seen 
that  a  mistake  had  been  made  in  buttoning  the  vest, 
the  top  button  being  in  the  second  button-hole.  Two 
pocketbooks  were  found.  One  of  these  contained  $250 
in  bills  and  some  memoranda.  The  other,  apparently 
new,  was  empty,  and  was  thrust  into  an  inside  pocket 
of  the  coat.  Among  the  letters  on  the  body  was  one 
from  Mr.  Horsford,  addressed  to  Channing,  at  Hay- 
nerville,  notifying  him  of  the  acceptance  of  his  device 
and  directing  him  to  come  to  Washington  to-day.  Ac 
cordingly,  Coughlin,  before  giving  the  case  publicit}^, 
promptly  telephoned  to  Mr.  Horsford.  Inasmuch  as  the 
Secret  Service  already  was  at  work  on  the  Dragonfly  de 
struction  case,  I  chanced  to  be  in  the  office  of  Captain 
Reifsnyder,  who  left  Haynerville  yesterday.  Both  Cap 
tain  Reifsnyder  and  myself  were  summoned  by  Mr.  Hors 
ford.  Immediately  after  my  arrival  here  I  got  into  com 
munication  with  Coughlin  over  the  telephone,  and,  after 
obtaining  his  report,  I  made  certain  suggestions  concern 
ing  the  manner  in  which  he  should  proceed.  A  few  min 
utes  later  I  heard  from  him  again.  Thus  it  has  happened 


28  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

that,  within  an  hour  after  the  discovery  of  the  body,  we 
are  able  to  give  to  you  such  a  fairly  extended  outline  of 
the  case. 

"Coughlin  has  been  directed  to  see  to  it  that  the  room 
in  which  the  body  lies  is  locked  and  carefully  guarded.  All 
has  been  put  up  to  us  by  the  local  police.  Coughlin,  how 
ever,  has  been  assigned  to  work  under  my  directions.  He 
now  is  trying  to  learn,  at  the  hotel,  who  had  access  to 
the  room  after  Channing  entered  it." 

"Coughlin  is  a  good  man,  but — well,  the  trail  is  get 
ting  colder  every  minute,"  Rennison  muttered  thought- 
fully. 

He  picked  up  his  hat  and  cane  abstractedly  and  started 
toward  the  door. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

GETTING  TO  WORK. 

HORSFORD,  rising,  followed  Rennison  and  laid  a  hand  on 
one  of  his  shoulders. 

"Is  it  all  clear  to  you?"  he  asked  solicitously. 

"Well,  no — hardly  that,"  Rennison  muttered.  "In 
fact,  there  is  nothing  clear  at  all.  We  are  not  sure  Chan- 
ning  was  murdered — that  he  did  not  die  a  natural  death. 
His  money  was  untouched,  and  it  is  not  clear  that  he  was 
robbed  of  anything.  Your  belief  that  he  carried  with  him 
documents  which  held  the  secret  of  his  invention  has  led 
you  first  to  suspect,  and  then  to  believe,  that  such  docu 
ments  were  taken  from  him." 

"But  they  are  gone,"  Horsford  protested  excitedly. 

"We  are  not  so  sure  of  that,"  Rennison  said.  "Those 
who  searched  his  pockets  were  not  looking  for  such  papers 
as  the  ones  you  believed  him  to  have  in  his  possession. 
The  examination  made  by  Coughlin  appears  to  have  been 
scarcely  more  than  perfunctory — merely  sufficient  to  es 
tablish  identification.  Then,  too,  the  fact  that  nothing 
has  been  said  to  me  concerning  an  examination  of  his  lug 
gage  leads  me  to  infer  that  none  was  made.  He  surely 
brought  with  him  a  suit-case  or  travelling  bag  of  some 
sort," 

"The  fault  was  mine,  Captain,"  Towndrow  replied, 
apologetically.  "Coughlin  did  report  that  he  found  a 

29 


30  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

black  leather  travelling  bag  on  a  chair  in  the  room,  but 
that  this  contained  only  toilet  articles  and  wearing  ap 
parel.  Coughlin  seemed  certain  that  it  held  no  papers." 

"It  is  plain,  of  course,  that  there  had  been  an  intruder 
in  the  room,"  Merschon  put  in.  "That  fact  is  indicated 
by  the  disappearance  of  the  key." 

"Perhaps  not,"  said  Rennison.  "It  is  possible  that  at 
the  time  Channing  fell  dead  to  the  floor— from  natural 
causes,  perhaps — he  was  accompanied  by  some  one  who 
was  there  by  his  invitation— a  woman,  perchance,  or  a 
man.  This  person,  though  innocent  of  his  death,  might 
have  had  some  quite  explainable  reason  for  dreading  to  be 
found  in  the  room  in  the  circumstances.  We  will  see." 

"You  speak,  Rennison,  as  if  you  hold  a  brief  for  the 
unknown  person  we  have  designated  as  the  intruder," 
Merschon  said,  resentfully. 

"It's  the  Rennison  way,"  Towndrow  growled.  "The 
Captain  always  gives  to  a  suspect  the  benefit  of  the 
doubt.  He  first  reasons  what  a  fellow  would  have  done 
innocently,  in  certain  circumstances — what  blunders  he 
might  have  made.  But  if  he  finds  the  suspect  had  a 
motive — if  there  is  evidence,  however  slight,  of  design — 
good-night !  The  end  comes  quickly.  Rennison  gets  him 
with  the  goods.  What  follows  is  the  Rennison  way — 
not  mine." 

Rennison,  marking  a  note  of  bitterness  in  the  tone  of 
the  Secret  Service  man,  looked  at  him  sharply.  He 
seemed  about  to  speak,  but  thought  better  of  it.  A 
moment  later,  Horsford,  slipping  a  hand  under  one  of 
his  arms,  asked,  with  pathetic  eagerness: 

"You  do  believe,  Rennison,  that  it  still  is  possible  that 
Channing's  memoranda  concerning  the  secret  of  his  dis 
covery  may  be  found  in  his  room?" 


GETTING  TO  WORK  31 

"It  is  possible,"  Rennison  answered,  shortly. 

"And  you  understand  the  full  significance  of  it  all,  do 
you  not?"  Horsford  went  on.  "If  that  secret  has  been 
taken  from  the  room — if  it  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of 
agents  of  Seafalcon  it  means  that  his  submarines,  equipped 
with  the  apparatus  described,  will  be  able  to  sink  our 
vessels  and  those  of  other  nations  without  coming  to  the 
surface  for  purposes  of  observation — without  even  thrust 
ing  a  periscope  into  view." 

"That  much,  at  least,  is  clear  to  me,"  Rennison  replied. 
"Believe  me,  Mr.  Horsford,  I  will  do  my  best."  Turning 
abruptly  from  the  Assistant  Secretary,  Rennison  ad 
dressed  the  Secret  Service  man.  "You  will  come  with  me, 
Towndrow?"  he  asked. 

The  Secret  Service  man,  hesitating,  glanced  at  Mer- 
schon. 

"Certainly — if  you  wish  it,"  Towndrow  said.  "But 
you  realize,  of  course,  that  I  have  been  assigned  to  the 
Haynerville  end  of  this  affair." 

"It  is  because  I  thoroughly  appreciate  the  importance 
of  what  has  occurred  at  Haynerville  that  I  am  asking  you 
to  accompany  me.  Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  inci 
dents  that  occurred  at  Haynerville  may  have  an  impor 
tant  bearing  on  the  death  of  Channing  here — if,  indeed, 
we  find  that  Channing's  death  was  not  due  to  natural 
causes." 

"My  only  reason  for  hesitation  is  that  Captain  Mer- 
schon  is  momentarily  expecting  an  important  communica 
tion  from  Haynerville,  in  reply  to  certain  inquiries  which 
I  requested  him  to  make,"  Towndrow  explained. 

"Can  you  give  me  an  hour?"  Rennison  queried. 

"I'll  be  in  my  office  until  I  hear  from  you  again,  Town 
drow,"  Merschon  said. 


32  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"All  right,  then,  Captain,"  Towndrow  muttered,  nod 
ding  at  Rennison. 

"How  soon  can  we  get  in  touch  with  Coughlin?"  Ren 
nison  asked. 

"At  once.  Anticipating  that  you  would  want  to  see 
him  as  soon  as  possible,  I  told  him  to  be  in  the  lobby 
of  the  Weymouthshire  at  five-forty-five.  Doubtless  he 
already  is  there." 

Walking  briskly,  Rennison  and  Towndrow  left  the  big 
building  together.  Though  the  hotel  was  only  a  short 
walk  distant,  they  entered  a  taxicab.  Until  now  neither 
had  addressed  the  other  after  leaving  Horsford's  office. 
When  they  were  seated  in  the  vehicle  Rennison  spoke. 

"Towndrow,"  he  asked,  "what  was  it  you  had  in  your 
mind  when,  a  few  minutes  ago,  you  remarked  that  when  I 
get  an  offender  with  the  goods  'what  follows  is  done  in  the 
Rennison  way — not  mine.* ' 

Towndrow,  flushing,  chewed  the  end  of  his  cigar  medita 
tively.  He  did  not  answer. 

"Out  with  it,  old  man,"  Rennison  persisted,  kindly. 
"For  a  long  while  I  have  been  well  aware  that  there  has 
been  something  between  us — that  you  have  had  some  rea 
son  for  disliking  me.  What  is  it?" 

"I  should  not  have  spoken  as  I  did,  Captain,"  Towndrow 
replied.  "The  fact  is,  however,  there  is  a  difference  in 
our  methods.  Mine  savor  rather  more  of  the  police,  I 
suppose.  Police  cases,  strictly  speaking,  never  have  been 
quite  in  your  line — unless  some  diplomatic  official,  for 
eign  agent  or  officer  of  the  Army  or  Navy  was  involved. 
Perhaps  that  is  the  reason  we  have  different  views — dif 
ferent  methods." 

"Well?"  Rennison  queried,  as  his  companion  paused. 

"Well,   most    Secret    Service   cases,   like   those   of   the 


GETTING  TO  WORK  33 

police,  reach  the  courts.  If  the  prisoner  gets  a  jail  sen 
tence,  he  has  time  to  think  things  over  for  a  few  months 
— or  years.  He  has  a  chance  to  reform.  But  in  some  of 
these  cases  of  yours — well,  Captain,  it  seems  to  me  that 
some  of  those  poor  devils  you  caught  with  the  goods  got 
to  their  Maker  too  soon.  That's  all." 

During  the  remainder  of  the  short  ride  neither  of  the 
occupants  of  the  taxicab  addressed  the  other.  Both  were 
moody  when  they  alighted  in  front  of  the  Weymouthshire. 

Near  the  hotel  desk  they  found  Coughlin — tall,  lean, 
square-shouldered,  with  bronzed  features  and  iron-gray 
hair.  His  alert,  black  eyes  were  expressive  of  impatience. 
As  he  marked  the  approach  of  Rennison  and  Towndrow, 
however,  his  face  cleared  a  little,  and  he  advanced  briskly 
to  meet  them. 

"Coroner  Discum  and  Dr.  Albertson  are  here,"  Cough 
lin  explained.  "They  wanted  to  view  the  body  at  once, 
but  I  told  them  you  wanted  them  to  wait." 

Rennison  nodded  approvingly. 

"No  one  other  than  yourself  has  been  in  the  room  since 
you  first  left  it?"  Towndrow  asked. 

"No.  It  is  locked  and  has  been  carefully  guarded. 
Shall  we  go  right  up?" 

Rennison  and  Towndrow  nodded  assent.  Coughlin 
beckoned  to  two  men  who  were  seated  on  one  of  the  sofas 
in  the  lobby.  They  were  Coroner  Discum  and  Dr.  Albert- 
son,  his  physician.  Both  were  known  to  Rennison  and 
Towndrow.  They  shook  hands  perfunctorily,  and  then 
ascended  in  an  elevator  to  the  fourth  floor. 

On  a  chair  near  the  door  of  Room  415  sat  a  "plain- 
clothes"  policeman.  Another  stood  near  a  window  at  the 
end  of  the  hall.  Coughlin  drew  a  key  from  one  of  his 
pockets,  opened  the  door  and  the  five  men  filed  in. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SEALED    LIPS. 

AFTER  following  his  four  companions  into  the  room, 
Coughlin  closed  and  locked  the  door.  All  removed  their 
hats  and  looked  around  them. 

The  first  object  that  held  their  gaze  was  the  figure  of 
a  man,  lying  on  the  floor — a  man  still  youthful,  a  little 
below  medium  height  and  of  frail  ph}'sique.  The  hair 
was  brown  and  somewhat  long.  The  thin,  pallid,  upturned 
face  was  clean-shaven.  The  body  was  attired  in  a  neatly- 
fitting  suit  of  blue  serge,  a  pink  silk  shirt,  white  collar, 
black  tie,  pink  socks  and  low  tan  shoes. 

"He  looks  more  like  a  dry-goods  clerk  or  summer 
boarder  than  a  naval  man,"  Coughlin  muttered. 

Rennison  glanced  sharply  at  Towndrow,  who  had  not 
told  him  how  much  the  local  detective  knew  concerning 
Channing's  visit  to  Washington. 

"He  was  not  a  naval  man,"  Towndrow  answered  shortly. 

"Well,  Coughlin,  how  far  have  you  got?"  Rennison  in 
quired  abruptly. 

"Not  very  far,  Captain,"  replied  the  detective.  "It 
doesn't  look  much  like  murder  to  me.  It's  a  cinch,  though, 
somebody  left  here  in  the  devil  of  a  hurry.  The  lock  was 
turned  before  the  door  was  closed,  by  some  one  who  made 
off  with  the  key." 

The  gaze  of  Rennison  now  was  resting  on  a  flat  straw 
hat  which  lay  on  the  floor,  between  the  brass  bed  and 
a  window. 

34 


SEALED  LIPS  35 

"That's  his  hat,  I  suppose,"  he  said.  "How  did  it  get 
there?" 

"It's  just  where  I  found  it,  Captain,  when  I  first  came 
into  the  room." 

Rennison  strode  toward  it,  picked  it  up,  turned  down  the 
inner  band,  and,  with  the  point  of  his  knife,  loosened  and 
drew  open  the  silk  lining  inside  the  top. 

"He's  a  neat-looking  fellow — so  neat,  indeed,  that  one 
scarcely  would  suspect  him  of  having  the  habit  of  tossing 
his  hat  to  the  floor,"  Rennison  muttered. 

"He  might  have  had  it  on  his  head  when  he  fell,  and  it 
might  have  rolled  over  there,"  Coughlin  suggested. 

"So  it  might,"  Rennison  assented. 

Towndrow,  who  had  been  gazing  at  the  body,  glanced 
sharply  toward  the  Captain,  in  whose  tone  there  was 
something  that  impressed  him  as  significant.  Rennison 
replaced  the  hat  on  the  floor,  on  the  spot  and  in  the  posi 
tion  it  had  been  when  he  first  observed  it.  His  manner 
indicated  that  in  it  he  had  found  nothing  that  held  his 
interest.  The  Secret  Service  man  looked  curiously  at  the 
hat,  then  slowly  shifted  his  gaze  across  the  floor  until  it 
came  again  to  the  body  at  his  feet.  He  glanced  again 
at  the  hat,  then  at  Rennison. 

"If  the  man  fell  here,  it  is  unlikely  that  the  hat,  falling 
from  his  head,  would  have  rolled  to  that  side  of  the  bed, 
of  course,"  Towndrow  said.  "It  is  not  improbable,  how 
ever,  that  he  was  standing  near  the  window  when  he  first 
was  stricken,  and  that  he  staggered  to  where  he  fell." 

"You  are  quite  right,  Towndrow,"  Rennison  answered, 
with  a  nod. 

"Well,  gentlemen,  if  there  is  no  objection,  we  will  pro 
ceed  to  an  examination  of  the  body,"  said  the  Coroner. 
"Have  you  any  suggestion  to  make  before  we  begin?" 


36  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"None — except  that  each  article  of  clothing  might  be 
handed  to  us  for  examination  as  it  is  removed,"  Rennison 
replied. 

Coroner  Discum,  nodding,  turned  to  his  colleague. 

"Well,  Dr.  Albertson,  let  us  get  to  work,"  he  said. 
Addressing  Rennison,  he  went  on:  "You  will  understand, 
gentlemen,  that  this  preliminary  examination  is  made  here 
at  the  request  of  Detective  Coughlin,  who  has  explained 
that  it  is  in  accordance  with  urgent  police  requirements. 
I  should  prefer  to  conduct  the  autopsy  in  the  morning. 
If,  however,  you  think  it  desirable  that  it  be  performed 
to-night " 

"I  would  suggest  that  it  be  performed  to-night, **  replied 
Rennison. 

"It  will  be  done,  then,  as  soon  as  we  get  the  body  to 
the  Morgue." 

In  reply  to  a  question,  Coughlin  explained  to  Rennison 
that  all  papers  he  has  examined  had  been  returned  by 
him  to  the  pockets  in  which  they  were  found,  and  that  he 
had  buttoned  the  vest  in  the  manner  in  which  it  had  been 
when  he  first  saw  it — the  top  button  being  in  the  second 
buttonhole. 

As  each  garment  was  taken  from  the  body  by  the  phy 
sician,  who  was  aided  by  Coughlin,  it  was  passed  to  Ren 
nison.  The  papers  taken  from  the  pockets  were  few. 
There  were  six  letters.  One  was  from  Horsford,  directing 
its  recipient  to  visit  Washington.  One  was  from  an  inti 
mate  friend,  and  four  others  were  communications  from 
manufacturing  firms  which,  apparently,  had  been  filling 
certain  orders  placed  with  them  by  Channing. 

In  a  black  pocketbook  was  found  half  a  sheet  of  note- 
paper  containing  a  list  of  business  firms,  whose  names 
appeared  on  two  of  the  letters.  Also  in  the  pocketbook 


SEALED  LIPS  37 

were  $250  in  bills,  visiting  cards  bearing  the  dead  man's 
name,  some  receipts  for  money  paid,  four  blank  checks  on 
a  New  York  bank,  and  some  memoranda  which  appeared  to 
have  no  connection  with  the  visit  to  Washington.  The 
gold  watch  and  fob-chain  were  in  place,  as  was  also  a  hand 
some  silver  cigarette  case.  Other  articles,  such  as  a 
fountain  pen,  a  bunch  of  keys,  a  silver  penknife  and  a  pair 
of  folding  scissors  were  inconsequential. 

Of  all  the  articles  found,  that  which  appeared  to  in 
terest  Rennison  most  was  a  pocketbook  of  soft,  red  Turk 
ish  leather.  This  had  the  appearance  of  newness,  and 
was  found  in  one  of  the  inside  pockets  of  the  coat.  It  was 
empty,  but,  while  the  nether  garments  were  being  removed 
from  the  body,  Rennison  took  the  pocketbook  to  a  win 
dow.  There,  after  carefully  inspecting  it,  he  raised  it  to 
his  nostrils. 

Inside  the  pocketbook  were  three  panels  and  a  panel- 
like  flap.  The  side  panels  were  of  green,  pressed  Morocco, 
stamped  with  four  thin,  gilt  parallel  lines  along  the  edges. 
Behind  the  panel  on  the  right  was  a  single  pocket ;  behind 
the  left  panel  were  two  pockets.  The  middle  panel  was 
of  celluloid.  The  flap  was  of  the  same  size  as  the  middle 
panel,  over  which  it  lay  when  it  was  closed.  When  the 
flap  was  thrust  back  it  revealed  a  large  pocket  behind  the 
panels,  extending  the  full  width  of  the  pocketbook.  This 
pocket,  as  well  as  the  pockets  of  the  panels,  was  lined 
with  green,  watered  silk. 

"Towndrow,  bring  me  that  vest,  will  you?"  Rennison 
asked. 

The  Secret  Service  man  quickly  picked  up  the  vest  from 
the  back  of  a  chair  and  took  it  to  where  Rennison  was 
standing.  The  Army  officer  took  it  and  glanced  at  the 
inside  lining.  He  saw  it  contained  two  pockets.  Each  of 


these  pockets  he  raised  to  his  nose.  As  he  laid  the  pocket- 
book  on  the  sill  of  the  window,  Towndrow  picked  it  up 
and  looked  at  it  curiously. 

"Rather  gaudy,  this,"  he  remarked. 

"Rather  too  gaudy  to  accord  with  the  sober  taste  of  the 
average  professor,"  Rennison  said.  "It  probably  was  a 
gift  from  some  friend  who  had  bought  it  in  Paris  or  Con 
stantinople,  as  a  souvenir.  It  is  as  fresh,  apparently,  as 
when  it  left  its  maker's  hands.  Still,  Channing  may  have 
had  it  for  several  weeks,  or  months.  The  black  seal 
pocketbook  in  which  we  found  the  money  and  cards  was 
more  to  the  fancy  of  the  poor  fellow  for  general  use.  This 
probably  merely  was  lying  around  among  his  personal 
effects  and  came  to  his  mind  when  he  wanted  some  such 
receptacle  for  a  special  purpose.  Take  a  whiff  of  this 
pocket,  Towndrow." 

As  Rennison  spoke,  he  opened  the  left-hand  inner 
pocket  of  the  vest  and  held  it  to  Towndrow's  nose. 

The  Secret  Service  man  nodded. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "the  odor  of  that  Turkish  leather  is 
pretty  strong.  It  was  in  this  pocket  he  carried  the  red 
pocketbook.'* 

"But  Coughlin  assures  us  that  he  found  it  in  the  right 
inside  pocket  of  the  coat,"  Rennison  suggested. 

"True,"  Towndrow  assented.  "Taken  in  conjunction 
with  the  placing  of  the  button  in  the  wrong  buttonhole 
of  the  coat,  it  certainly  indicates  that  some  one  was  inter 
ested  in  this  red  pocketbook  after  the  body  of  Channing 
fell  to  the  floor." 

Taking  the  pocketbook  again,  Rennison  threw  back  the 
flap  and  pointed  to  the  wide  pocket  in  the  back. 

"The  papers  we  are  seeking  were  in  there,  Towndrow," 
he  said. 


SEALED  LIPS  39 

"I  think  there  is  no  doubt  of  that,  Captain,"  Town- 
drow  muttered.  "But  we'll  have  to  do  some  pretty  quick 
travelling  if  we  are  going  to  come  up  with  them  now." 

"The  travelling  must  not  be  along  false  trails,"  Renni- 
son  cautioned.  "Before  we  start  we  must  know  what  we 
are  going  after.  Meantime,  we'd  better  be  sure  there  is 
nothing  in  that  travelling  bag  that  is  of  interest  to  us» 
Will  you  look  it  over,  old  man?" 

Towndrow  nodded,  and  forthwith  proceeded  to  act  in 
accordance  with  the  request. 

"The  hotel  management  won't  object,  I  suppose,  if  we 
requisition  one  of  the  sheets  from  the  bed,  Captain  Ren- 
nison,"  said  Coroner  Discum. 

"Oh,  no,  I  think  not,"  Rennison  answered  carelessly. 
"Take  it  along." 

Glancing  at  the  body  as  he  spoke,  he  saw  that  it  had 
been  enitrcly  stripped,  and  was  lying  on  its  face.  He 
crossed  to  it  and  dropped  on  one  knee  beside  it. 

"Found  nothing,  eh?"  he  asked  the  physician. 

Coughlin  was  taking  a  sheet  from  the  bed. 

"Nothing  whatever  of  a  nature  to  indicate  that  the  man 
did  not  die  of  natural  causes,"  Albertson  replied.  "Des 
pite  the  slightness  of  his  build,  he  appears  to  have  been 
in  good  physical  health." 

Beside  Rennison's  bent  knee  was  the  upturned  palm 
of  the  dead  man's  right  hand.  Stooping  lower,  the  army 
officer  raised  it.  The  physician  saw  the  action. 

"I  observed  those  slight  discolorations  near  the  tips 
of  the  thumb  and  the  first  and  second  fingers,"  Albert- 
son  explained.  "They  appear  to  be  without  significance, 
however.  Pie  was  a  cigarette  smoker,  but  I  would  say  they 
are  not  tobacco  stains.  What  was  his  occupation?" 

"A  college  professor  and  inventor." 


40  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Well,  then  I  should  infer  that  they  were  stains  re 
ceived  in  the  course  of  laboratory  work,  involving  the  use 
of  chemicals,"  the  physician  went  on  carelessly.  "I  had 
an  idea  that  he  might  have  been  a  photographer." 

"Towndrow,  let  me  have  that  glass  of  yours,"  said 
Rennison. 

The  Secret  Service  man  left  the  table  at  which  he  had 
been  examining  the  black  travelling  bag.  As  he  crossed 
to  where  Rennison  was  kneeling,  he  drew  a  small  magnify 
ing  glass  from  one  of  his  pockets  and  extracted  it  from  its 
chamois  skin  bag.  He  handed  the  glass  to  Rennison. 
After  examining  the  stained  fingers  for  several  moments, 
through  the  glass,  Rennison  rose. 

"Let's  get  the  body  nearer  one  of  the  windows,"  he 
said. 

Towndrow  and  Coughlin  carried  it  to  a  point  just  below 
one  of  the  windows  and  laid  it  on  the  floor. 

"How  much  would  you  say  the  poor  chap  weighed?" 
Rennison  asked,  as  he  knelt  again  beside  the  body. 

"Somewhere  between  125  and  130  pounds,"  Coughlin 
replied. 

Once  more  Rennison  was  examining  the  stains  through 
the  glass.  In  a  couple  of  minutes  he  drew  back  and  rose. 

"Better  have  a  look  at  these  through  the  glass,  Doc 
tor,"  he  suggested. 

Taking  the  glass,  Albertson  knelt.  He  had  been  look 
ing  through  the  glass  only  a  few  moments  when  a  flush 
was  seen  to  steal  over  his  features.  He  made  a  little 
sound  as  though  he  were  clearing  his  throat. 

"Yes,  Captain,"  he  muttered,  "there  does  seem  to  be 
something  here." 


CHAPTER  VI. 

TWINKLING  LIGHTS. 

"WELL,  Doctor,  what  do  you  find?"  Rennison  inquired. 

"Punctures,  as  well  as  discoloration,"  Albertson  re- 
plied.  "There  are  several  of  them — several  on  the  thumb 
and  several  on  each  of  the  two  fingers." 

"What  would  you  say  caused  them?" 

"It  is  difficult  to  tell.  The  punctures  certainly  are  not 
the  results  of  acid  action,  though  the  stains  may  be. 
Whether  they  are  related  I  will  be  unable  to  determine 
until  I  subject  all  to  a  microscopic  examination." 

"Who  is  going  to  take  charge  of  the  property?"  Cough- 
lin  asked. 

"I'll  attend  to  that,"  Towndrow  volunteered.  "I'll 
turn  it  over  to  the  police  in  a  day  or  two." 

Towndrow  now  proceeded  to  place  in  the  black  bag  all 
the  articles  which  had  been  taken  from  the  pockets  of  the 
dead  man's  clothing.  The  clothing  itself  was  crowded 
into  a  pillow-case  which  Coughlin  took  from  the  bed, 
The  Coroner,  after  sending  in  a  call  for  a  police  wagon, 
assisted  Albertson,  who  was  wrapping  the  body  in  a 
sheet  preparatory  to  its  transfer  to  the  Morgue. 

Meanwhile,  Rennison,  toying  with  Towndrow's  magni 
fying  glass,  walked  thoughtfully  to  and  fro  near  the  spot 
at  which  the  body  had  been  found.  Once  he  stopped  near 
the  threshold  of  the  entrance  door,  and  felt  the  nap  of 
the  blue  carpet.  A  little  later,  he  opened  the  door,  then 

41 


42  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

closed  it  in  a  manner  that  indicated  the  point  at  which 
it  caught.  At  length  he  stepped  out  into  the  hall,  draw 
ing  the  door  shut  after  him. 

In  the  hall  Rennison  found  the  policeman  who  had  been 
guarding  the  door. 

"Long  wait,  eh?"  the  Army  man  said.  "However,  it's 
about  over  now,  I  guess.  The  wagon  will  be  here  pretty 
soon." 

The  policeman,  whose  mouth  was  full  of  tobacco,  made 
some  reply  to  which  Rennison  gave  no  heed.  Moving  about 
just  outside  the  door,  Rennison  was  gazing  at  the  red 
carpet  on  the  floor. 

"You  haven't  been  spilling  any  of  that  tobacco  juice 
around  here,  I  hope,"  the  Captain  said,  good-humoredly. 

"No,  sir,"  replied  the  policeman,  who  saw  that  the  gaze 
of  Rennison  was  on  a  little  spot,  a  few  inches  from  the 
wall  and  about  eight  feet  from  the  door.  "I  saw  that,  too, 
sir.  But  it  ain't  no  mark  of  mine." 

Rennison  dropped  on  one  knee  and  placed  the  glass 
over  the  spot. 

"'Taint  tobacco  juice,"  the  policeman  assured  him. 
"And  it  aint  no  bloodstain  neither." 

"No,"  Rennison  answered,  absently,  as  he  continued  to 
examine  the  mark.  It  was  of  a  pale,  grayish  color. 
"There  has  been  no  bloodshed,  my  friend." 

"Then  it  wasn't  no  murder,  hey?"  the  other  asked, 
with  interest. 

Rennison,  rising,  made  no  reply.  He  stepped  to  the 
door  and  opened  it. 

"Do  you  happen  to  have  a  flashlight  with  you,  Cough- 
lin?"  he  called. 

"Sure,'*  answered  the  detective.     "Do  you  want  it?" 

"If  you  please." 


TWINKLING  LIGHTS  43 

Coughlin  hurried  out. 

"Struck  something?"  he  asked,  eagerly,  in  a  low  voice. 

"I  don't  know,  Coughlin." 

With  the  electric  flashlight  that  had  been  given  to  him 
by  the  detective,  Rennison  again  examined  the  grayish 
stain  through  the  glass.  He  soon  rose  and  returned  the 
flashlight  to  Coughlin. 

"What  is  it,  Captain?" 

"I  don't  know,"  Rennison  answered,  shortly. 

The  two  men  re-entered  the  room,  closing  the  door  be 
hind  them.  Slipping  a  hand  under  one  of  the  arms  of 
the  detective,  Rennison  led  him  to  a  window. 

"Now,  Coughlin,  tell  me  how  far  you  have  gone,"  Ren 
nison  directed. 

The  detective  flushed  a  little  as  he  replied : 

"Well,  not  very  far,  Captain.  The  fact  that  I  had  to 
wait  for  you  and  Mr.  Towndrow  sort  of  held  me  up. 
Then,  too,  it  didn't  look  to  me  like  the  man  was  mur 
dered." 

"Does  it  look  so  to  you  now?" 

"No,  Captain,  I  can't  see  it  that  way  at  all.  The  only 
suspicious  circumstance  in  regards  to  this  affair  is  that 
somebody,  who  was  in  here  when  that  chap  died,  or  who 
came  in  afterward,  made  an  all-fired  quick  get-away." 

"Then  you  have  had  little  enthusiasm  for  the  investi 
gation?" 

"Not  overmuch,  perhaps." 

"But  you  have  made  some  inquiries?" 

"Oh,  yes.  I  found  that  Channing  entered  the  hotel  at 
3 :30  o'clock  this  afternoon.  He  was  alone  and  carried 
a  black  travelling  bag.  A  clerk  named  Johnson  assigned 
him  to  a  room,  and  he  was  taken  to  it  by  a  bellboy  named 
Spurgeon.  Spurgeon  then  went  downstairs.  A  few  min- 


44  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

utes  later  a  party  in  Room  407  rang  for  icewater,  and 
Spurgeon  responded." 

"And  it  was  Spurgeon  who  found  the  door  unlocked, 
and  who,  entering  the  room,  discovered  the  body?" 

"Spurgeon  did  all  that,  Captain." 

"All  right.  Let's  get  on  to  the  time  that,  in  accordance 
with  the  request  of  the  Government,  you  locked  the  room 
and  placed  it  under  guard.  What  did  you  do  after  that?" 

"I  saw  the  manager  of  the  hotel,  Mr.  Worthington.  He 
opened  things  to  me  generally.  I  talked  with  the  clerk 
and  Spurgeon.  Mr.  Worthington  tried  to  find  whether 
any  one  else  had  seen  Charming.  He  questioned  several 
of  his  employes.  The  only  other  pers-on  who  saw  our  man 
was  the  elevator  boy,  who  had  hardly  noticed  Channing 
when  he  went  up  on  a  crowded  car." 

"You  made  no  attempt  to  learn  the  names  of  other 
persons  occupying  rooms  on  this  floor?" 

"Why,  no.  Why  should  I?  What  would  they  have 
to  do  with  the  case?  It  didn't  look  like  murder  to  me 
then,  and  it  doesn't  look  like  murder  to  me  now." 

"All  right,  Coughlin,"  Rennison  said,  and  passed  into 
the  bathroom.  There  he  saw  the  cover  had  been  torn  from 
the  little  piece  of  soap  that  had  been  placed  on  the  wash- 
stand,  and  that  on  the  rack  one  of  the  three  towels  was 
crumpled.  As  he  came  out  of  the  bathroom,  he  was  ad 
dressed  by  Towndrow. 

"Well,  Captain,  what  do  you  make  of  it  all?"  the  Sec 
ret  Service  man  asked.  His  face  and  manner  plainly  indi 
cated  that  impatience  was  getting  the  better  of  him. 

"Why,  the  lights  are  beginning  to  twinkle  now,"  Ren 
nison  replied. 

"You  think  the  man  was  murdered?'*  Coughlin  de 
manded. 


TWINKLING  LIGHTS  45 

"Undoubtedly,"  Rennison  replied.  "So  far  as  we  have 
gone,  much  is  clear.  Such  evidence  as  we  have  indicates 
that  Channing  entered  the  hotel  alone,  and,  after  register 
ing,  was  conducted  to  his  room  by  a  bellboy.  The  boy 
probably  placed  the  black  bag  where  it  was  found — on 
the  sofa.  Channing,  who  appears  to  have  been  a  singu 
larly  cautious  person,  so  far  as  his  invention  was  con 
cerned,  might  have  had  some  reason  for  not  wanting  to 
go  to  the  dining  car,  while  he  was  carrying  with  him  his 
precious  secret.  One  is  often  compelled  to  eat  with  three 
others  at  a  small  table  in  a  dining-car,  you  know,  and 
Channing,  knowing  the  resources  and  unscrupulous  prac 
tices  of  Seafalcon's  espionage  system  in  this  country, 
may  have  been  loath  to  eat  and  drink  in  such  proximity 
with  strangers.  He  was  resolved  to  take  no  chances 
with  pickpockets  or  food  that  might  be  tampered  with. 

"If  such  were  the  case,  we  must  assume  that  the  poor 
chap,  after  a  six-hours*  journey,  was  in  good  shape  for 
a  hearty  meal  when  he  arrived  here.  His  appointment 
with  Mr.  Horsford  was  for  five  o'clock.  Channing,  there 
fore,  probably  reasoned  that  he  would  have  time  for  a 
light  meal  somewhere,  in  an  uncrowded  place — easily 
enough  to  be  found  that  hour.  The  destruction  of  the 
Dragonfly  and  the  murder  of  the  inventor  of  the  device 
it  contained  plainly  indicate  that  Channing  was  being 
watched  by  spies.  It  may  be  regarded  as  probable  that 
he  was  aware  of  this.  Nor,  indeed,  is  it  unlikely  that, 
realizing  that  he  was  followed,  he  had  resolved  to  get  his 
secret  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Horsford  prior  to  the  hour 
that  had  been  designated  for  their  meeting*." 

"That  seems  rather  more  probable  to  me,"  Towndrow 
muttered. 

"Well,  in  any  case  it  would  appear  that,  as  soon  as 


46  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

the  bellboy  left  him,  Charming  hurried  to  the  bathroom, 
tore  the  paper  wrapper  from  the  soap  he  found  there, 
and  quickly  washed  the  stains  of  travel  from  his  face  and 
hands,  not  taking  time  to  brush  his  hair. 

"Having  left  the  bathroom,  Channing  put  on  his  hat, 
crossed  the  room,  opened  the  door  and  went  out  into  the 
hall.  He  closed  and  locked  the  door,  and  then  started 
toward  the  elevator.  He  had  taken  only  a  few  steps,  how 
ever,  when  he  saw  some  one,  who  probably  was  a  stranger 
to  him.  It  is  also  probable  that  this  stranger  was  a 
woman." 

Coughlin,  whose  features  now  wore  a  troubled  expres 
sion,  shook  his  head  incredulously. 

"On  some  pretext  or  another,  this  woman,  we  will  say, 
addressed  him,"  Rennison  went  on.  "She  either  offered 
to  him  or  let  fall  some  object  which  she  carried.  At  all 
events  the  object  fell  to  the  floor.  As  it  struck  the  carpet 
the  shock  of  contact  caused  the  exudation  of  some  virulent 
fluid  it  contained.  The  effect  of  this  was  a  stain,  which 
rather  resembles  a  burn,  on  the  carpet,  about  eight  feet 
from  the  door." 

"You  think  then, '*  broke  in  Dr.  Albertson,  in  ac 
cents  of  alarm. 

"I  think  the  object  to  which  I  have  referred  was  cov 
ered  with  needle-like,  but  hollow,  points,  which,  when 
grasped  by  fingers,  or  subjected  to  the  shock  of  a  fall, 
would  discharge  some  deadly  fluid.  I  believe  that,  either 
in  taking  this  object  from  the  hand  of  the  woman,  or 
picking  it  up  from  the  floor,  Channing  received  the  punc 
tures  which  we  found  in  his  thumb  and  the  two  fingers 
which  would  be  used  in  picking  up  such  an  object." 

"And  then?"  Albertson  queried. 

"Well,  succumbing  to  the  virulence  of  the  poison  thus 


TWINKLING  LIGHTS  47 

injected  into  his  system,  Channing,  it  is  safe  to  assume, 
fell  either  dead  or  dying  on  the  floor.  The  woman — if, 
indeed,  it  was  a  woman — then  got  possession  of  his  key, 
which  still  might  have  been  in  his  hand,  opened  the  door 
of  his  room,  drew  in  the  body,  tossed  the  fallen  hat  to  the 
place  where  we  found  it,  closed  the  door,  searched  the 
pockets,  obtained  what  she  sought,  then  fled  from  the 
room,  leaving  the  door  in  the  position  that  has  been 
indicated." 

"But  why  do  you  infer  that  the  act  was  committed  by 
a  woman?"  Towndrow  asked. 

"There  are  several  reasons  for  such  an  inference.  First, 
Channing,  carrying  with  him  an  important  document, 
would  be  more  or  less  on  his  guard  against  a  strange 
man  who  might  address  him.  If  a  man  were  to  drop  an 
object  such  as  I  have  described,  the  chances  are  that 
Channing,  though  seeing  it  first,  would  have  let  the  other 
fellow  pick  it  up.  Some  one  was  prepared  to  take  ad 
vantage  of  his  courtesy. 

"Second,  it  is  doubtful  whether  a  man,  seeking  to  con 
ceal  evidence  of  crime,  would  have  buttoned  up  the  vest  in 
such  a  manner.  Third,  a  man,  in  such  circumstances, 
would  have  entirely  closed  the  door  before  locking  it. 
The  woman  who  committed  this  crime  apparently  lost 
nerve  at  the  moment  it  was  most  necessary.  The  but 
toning  of  the  vest  and  the  manner  in  which  the  lock  was 
thrown  seem  to  indicate  the  approach  of  a  degree  of 
hysteria  that  rarely  is  found  in  the  cases  of  male  crim 
inals — especially  of  the  higher  class — the  class  from  which 
a  person  required  for  work  of  this  character  necessarily 
must  be  obtained." 

"Your  theory  is  plausible  enough,  Captain/'  Towndrow 
muttered,  thoughtfully.  "And  in  all  criminal  cases  of 


48  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

this  nature  we,  sooner  or  later,  must  get  back  to  the  old 
injunction:  'Search  for  the  woman." 

"She's  got  a  pretty  good  lead  by  this  time,"  Coughlin 
grumbled  self-reproachfully." 

The  face  of  Towndrow  darkened,  as  he  turned  to  Ren- 
nison. 

"It  must  be  a  quick  chase,  Captain,"  he  said. 

Scarcely  had  he  spoken  when  there  came  a  rapping  at 
the  door. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

HITTING  THE   TRAIL. 

THE  door  was  opened  by  Coughlin,  who  was  confronted 
by  Worthington,  the  manager  of  the  hotel.  Worthington 
made  no  attempt  to  conceal  his  agitation. 

"Come  in,  Mr.  Worthington,"  said  Coughlin.  "We'll 
have  the  room  cleared  for  you  in  a  few  minutes." 

"What  the  devil  does  all  this  mean?"  the  manager 
demanded.  "I  had  expected  rather  better  of  you,  Cough 
lin.  There's  a  police  wagon  at  the  door,  and  the  driver 
tells  me  you  are  going  to  take  the  body  to  the  Morgue  at 
once.  Can't  the  removal  be  postponed,  as  in  other  such 
cases,  until  our  guests  are  in  their  beds  and  out  of  the 
way?" 

"No,  Mr.  Worthington,"  Towndrow  answered.  "There 
are  reasons  that  make  it  imperative  that  the  removal 
should  be  effected  at  once." 

At  length,  finding  his  protests  vain,  the  manager  left 
the  room.  Shortly  aftei*ward,  Rennison,  directing  his 
companions  to  await  his  return,  also  went  out.  He  was 
the  only  passenger  in  the  elevator  that  took  him  to  the  first 
floor.  There  he  went  to  the  hotel  desk  and  addressed  the 
clerk.  This  man  was  Johnson,  who  had  assigned  the 
room  to  Channing  earlier  in  the  day.  To  Johnson  Ren 
nison  was  known  as  an  Army  officer,  and  the  clerk  had 
marvelled  to  see  him  go  to  the  fourth  floor  with  the 

49 


50  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Coroner,  Coughlin  and  a  Secret  Service  man.  Johnson 
nodded  as  Rennison  approached. 

"Mr.  Johnson,  I  will  have  to  spend  the  night  at  this 
hotel,  and  would  like  a  room  on  the  fourth  floor,"  Ren 
nison  explained. 

The  clerk,  after  glancing  at  his  room  board,  shook  his 
head. 

"I'm  sorry,  Captain,  but  all  the  rooms  on  the  fourth 
floor  are  occupied — except,  of  course,  the  one  you  know 
about." 

"I  do  not  want  that  one." 

"All  the  others  are  taken,  sir.  A  room  on  another 
floor  would  not  do !" 

"No.  It  must  be  on  the  fourth.  How  soon  will  you 
have  one  disengaged?'* 

"That  is  rather  difficult  to  say,  Captain,'*  replied  the 
clerk,  again  glancing  at  his  board.  "There's  one,  though 
— an  inside  room — Number  412 — that  may  be  given  up 
to-night." 

"At  what  time  would  it  be  likely  to  be  available?" 

Once  more  the  clerk  shook  his  head.  Then,  turning,  he 
went  to  the  boxes  in  which  letters  and  keys  were  deposited. 
After  thrusting  his  fingers  into  that  marked  412,  he  ad 
dressed  Rennison. 

"The  key  is  gone,  sir,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  lady 
will  occupy  the,  room  all  night." 

"Oh,  it's  a  lady,  eh?" 

One  of  the  male  guests  of  the  hotel  now  requested  his 
letters  and  room  key.  As  the  clerk  turned  to  get  them, 
Rennison  scanned  the  open  pages  of  the  register. 

"What  is  the  lady's  name?"  he  asked  when  Johnson 
returned. 

The  clerk  hesitated;  then,  seeing  that  Rennison  was 


HITTING  THE  TRAIL  51 

looking  down  one  of  the  room  columns  of  the  register,  he 
said,  coldly: 

"She  did  not  register,  Captain  Rennison." 

"Why  not?" 

The  manner  of  the  clerk  grew  frigid. 

"You  surely  know,  Captain,  that  information  of  a  per 
sonal  nature,  concerning  guests,  is  not  given  out  by  em 
ployes  of  reputable  hotels." 

Rennison,  nodding,  smiled  faintly,  as  he  replied: 

"You  are  quite  right,  Mr.  Johnson.  I  stand  corrected, 
and  ask  your  pardon." 

Having  thus  spoken,  Rennison  turned  away  and  went 
leisurely  to  the  private  office  of  the  manager.  The  door 
was  open,  but  the  room  was  unoccupied.  Five  minutes 
later,  the  manager,  still  perturbed,  hurried  in.  Rennison 
was  seated  beside  his  desk. 

"Believe  me,  Mr.  Worthington,  I  am  very  sorry  it  was 
necessary  to  remove  the  body  at  this  hour,"  Rennison  said 
contritely.  "It  could  not  be  avoided,  however." 

"Well,  all  went  off  better  than  I  dared  hope,"  Worth 
ington  replied,  as  he  wiped  his  forehead  with  a  handker 
chief.  "Singularly  enough,  at  this  hour,  none  of  our 
guests  was  in  the  hall,  and  the  stretcher  reached  the 
freight  elevator  without  being  observed.  Thence  we  got  it 
down  to  the  court  behind  the  hotel.  I'm  glad  all  is  over. 
But  how  does  it  happen,  Captain,  that  you  appear  to  be 
so  interested  in  the  case?  Channing  was  not  a  relative 
of  yours,  I  hope." 

"No." 

"Or  an  Army  man?" 

"No.  He  was  a  man  in  whom  the  Government  had  a 
marked  interest,  however." 

"I  might  have  inferred  as  much  from  the  manner  in 


52  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

which  Towndrow,  of  the  Secret  Service,  seemed  to  be 
directing  things.  Well,  anyhow,  I'm  glad  the  thing  is 
over,  so  far  as  the  Weymouthshire  is  concerned.'* 

Rising  deliberately,  Rennison  crossed  to  the  door  and 
closed  it. 

"I  am  sorry,  Mr.  Worthington,  that  I  still  am  unable 
to  congratulate  the  Weymouthshire  on  being  quite  done 
with  the  affair,"  he  said,  as  he  reseated  himself. 

The  color  fled  from  the  manager's  face. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that  ?"  he  demanded.  The  man 
died  from  natural  causes,  didn't  he?" 

"No." 

"You  mean  that  he  was  murdered — here — in  the  Wey 
mouthshire?" 

"Yes." 

"Oh,  God!"  groaned  Worthington.  "How?  By 
whom?" 

"It  is  too  soon  to  say.  But  it  is  essential  that  we  have 
your  assistance  in  getting  at  the  facts." 

"  'We',"  Worthington  repeated,  wonderingly.  "Will 
you  tell  me  first,  Captain,  just  how  you  are  figuring  in  this 
affair?" 

"For  the  time  being,  at  least,  you  will  regard  me  as 
acting  in  the  capacity  of  a  representative  of  the  Bureau 
of  Military  Intelligence,  and  working  in  collaboration 
with  the  United  States  Secret  Service." 

The  manager  gave  a  little  start.  Thoughtful  gravity 
drove  the  flush  of  resentment  from  his  features,  and  the 
light  that  was  kindled  in  his  eyes  was  indicative  of  new 
interest. 

"Ah — I  see!"  he  murmured.  "This  is  something  more 
than  a  mere  police  case,  then." 

"Much  more.*' 


HITTING  THE  TRAIL  53 

As  earnest  and  self-controlled  now  as  his  visitor,  Worth- 
ington  leaned  back  in  his  swivel  desk-chair  and  gripped  its 
arms. 

"I  am  entirely  at  your  service,  Captain  Rennison,"  he 
said.  "Now  what  can  I  do?" 

"I  want,  with  as  little  delay  as  possible,  a  room  on  the 
fourth  floor — not,  of  course,  the  room  in  which  the  body 
of  Channing  was  found.  I  have  learned  that  all  are  oc 
cupied,  but  that  412  may  be  released  in  the  course  of 
the  night.  Incidentally,  I  learned  from  Mr.  Johnson 
that  its  occupant  was  a  woman,  who  had  not  registered. 
Quite  properly,  Mr.  Johnson  declined  to  reveal  to  me 
the  name  of  the  woman,  or  her  reasons  for  not  allowing 
her  name  to  appear  on  the  hotel  register." 

"And  you  seek  this  knowledge?" 

"Yes." 

Leaning  forward,  Worthington  pressed  an  electric  but 
ton  on  his  desk.  When  a  bell-boy  responded,  the  manager 
directed  that  Johnson  be  requested  to  come  to  the  office. 

"Failure  to  register  at  the  Weymouthshire  is  unusual, 
is  it  not?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Yes,  it  is  unusual,  of  course.  But,  in  certain  circum 
stances,  exceptions  are  made  to  the  usual  practice." 

"Are  you  familiar  with  the  circumstance  in  this  par 
ticular  case?" 

"No — not  familiar  with  them.  The  matter  was  referred 
to  me,  about  two  o'clock  this  afternoon,  by  Johnson,  who 
was  on  duty  at  the  desk  at  that  time.  He  merely  reported 
to  me  that  a  woman,  without  friends  in  Washington,  had 
requested  permission  to  occupy  for  a  few  hours  a  room 
that  had  been  engaged,  and  paid  for,  by  her  husband, 
who  had  been  unavoidably  detained  in  New  York.  She 
explained  that  immediately  upon  the  arrival  of  her  hus- 


54 

band,  later  in  the  day,  she  would  meet  him  at  the  Union 
Station  and  continue  on  with  him  to  Chicago.  I  told 
Johnson  to  let  her  have  the  room,  of  course.  Inasmuch 
as  she  did  not  intend  to  occupy  it  overnight,  she  was  not 
required  to  register.  That  is  all  I  know  of  the  circum 
stances.  I  do  not  even  recollect  her  name." 

"Well,  we'll  get  the  details  from  Johnson,  then,"  said 
Rennison. 

As  he  spoke,  Johnson  entered  the  office.  The  clerk 
flushed  a  little  as  he  saw  Rennison,  then  turned  inquir 
ingly  to  his  employer. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  WOMAN  IN  NUMBER  412. 

"SiT  down,  Johnson,"  Worthington  directed,  addressing 
the  desk  clerk.  "Captain  Rennison  agrees  with  me  that 
you  acted  quite  properly  in  declining  to  give  to  him 
information  concerning  the  woman  of  whom  he  spoke  to 
you  a  few  minutes  ago,  inasmuch  as  you  did  not  under 
stand  his  reasons  for  interrogating  you  on  the  subject. 
These  reasons  have  been  explained  to  me,  however,  and  it 
is  my  wish  that  you  answer  all  questions  he  may  put  to 
you." 

"Very  well,  sir,"  replied  the  clerk. 

"Tell  to  him,  then,  all  you  know  concerning  the  arrival 
of  the  woman  at  this  hotel,"  Worthington  said. 

"Well,"  the  clerk  began,  "the  affair  really  started  yes 
terday,  when,  about  five  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Rey 
nolds,  the  cashier,  gave  to  me  a  special  delivery  letter, 
addressed  to  the  manager.  This  had  been  opened  by 
Mr.  Worthington." 

"You  mean — — ?"  the  manager  broke  in. 

"Will  you  let  me  have  whatever  documents  are  available 
in  connection  with  this  matter?"  Rennison  asked. 

In  accordance  with  nodded  permission  from  the  man 
ager,  Johnson  went  out. 

"I  recollect  the  incident  of  which  he  speaks,  but  I  did 
not  suspect  it  had  any  relation  to  this  case,"  Worthing 
ton  muttered,  thoughtfully. 

55 


56  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Neither  spoke  again  until  Johnson  returned.  He 
brought  with  him  a  letter. 

"This  was  the  letter,  Captain  Rennison,"  Johnson  said, 
as  he  handed  it  to  the  Army  man. 

It  was  written  on  notepaper  of  the  Hotel  Clairecliff, 
New  York  City,  and  bore  the  date  on  which  it  was 
received  at  the  Weymouthshire.  Addressed  to  "The 
Manager  of  the  Hotel  Weymouthshire,  Washington,  D. 
C.,"  it  was  as  follows : 

Dear  Sir:  Please  have  ready  for  occupancy  early  to 
morrow  afternoon  two  rooms  on  the  third  or  fourth  floors  of 
the  Weymouthshire — one  for  the  use  of  Oliver  Channing,  of 
New  York,  and  the  other  for  myself.  It  is  preferable  that  they 
be  communicating,  but,  if  such  are  not  available,  please  see 
to  it  that  they  are  on  the  same  floor,  and  as  near  to  one  another 
as  possible.  I  should  find  a  single  room  acceptable  for  myself, 
if  two  adjoining  double  rooms  are  not  to  be  had,  but  it  is 
essential  that  a  double  room  be  assigned  to  Mr.  Channing. 
Enclosed  herewith  please  find  $20  in  cash  to  cover  the 
reservation. 

I  may  add  that  during  my  sojourn  in  Washington  I  may 
be  met  by  Mrs.  Enderbrook,  now  visiting  in  Maryland,  and 
who  will  go  W^st  with  me.  Should  she  arrive  in  Washington 
before  I  am  ready  to  leave  the  city,  I  should  require  a  double 
room,  of  course. 

Yours  very  truly, 

THEODORE  ENDERBROOK. 

After  reading  the  letter,  Rennison  passed  it  to  Worth- 
ington,  who  also  read  it  carefully. 

"As  I  have  said,  I  do  recollect  having  received  this 
letter,  but  I  merely  glanced  at  it,"  the  manager  explained, 
when  he  was  done.  "While  it  is  a  little  more  specific, 
perhaps,  than  is  usual  with  letters  which  ask  for  reserva 
tions,  there  was  nothing  about  it  that  impressed  me  as 


THE  WOMAN  IN  NUMBER  412  57 

extraordinary.  Noting  that  it  was  a  reservation  re 
quest,  and  was  accompanied  by  cash,  I  gave  it  to  my 
cashier,  who  passed  it  on  to  Johnson,  in  order  that  rooms 
might  be  assigned." 

"And  you  made  the  asignments,  Mr,  Johnson?'*  Ren- 
nison  queried. 

"Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  clerk.  "No  communicating1 
rooms  were  available  on  either  the  third  or  fourth  floor, 
so  I  made  the  best  disposition  that  was  possible  in  the 
circumstances.  I  reserved  for  Mr.  Channing  a  double 
room  on  the  outside,  and  for  Mr.  Enderbrook  a  double 
room  on  the  inside  on  opposite  sides  of  the  corridor." 

"These  rooms,  then,  were  415  and  412  •!" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"I  see  you  have  noted  the  numbers  on  Enderbrook's  let 
ter." 

"Yes,  sir,  the  figures  were  made  by  me." 

"Well,  the  rooms  were  ready  for  the  occupancy  of  Mr. 
Enderbrook  and  Mr.  Channing  at  noon  to-day,'*  the  clerk 
went  on.  "About  one  o'clock  I  was  summoned  to  the  tele 
phone.  The  speaker  at  the  other  end  of  the  wire  asked 
me  if  I  was  the  desk  clerk.  I  replied  that  I  was.  He  said 
lie  was  Enderbrook,  that  business  had  detained  him  in  New 
York,  that  he  would  be  in  Washington  some  time  in  the 
course  of  the  evening,  but  would  start  immediately  for 
the  West.  Meanwhile,  he  said,  he  had  been  unable  to 
communicate  with  his  wife,  who  had  left  Hagerstown, 
Maryland,  before  he  had  an  opportunity  to  acquaint  her 
with  his  change  of  plans.  She  was  on  her  way  to  Wash 
ington  to  meet  him  at  the  Weymouthshire.  Accordingly, 
he  asked  me  to  give  to  her  the  use  of  the  room  he  had 
engaged,  and  in  which  she  might  await  his  arrival4  He 
reminded  me  that  it  had  been  paid  for." 


58  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Clever  fellow,"  Rennison  muttered.  "He  wasn't  leav 
ing  much  to  chance." 

"He  explained  that  his  wife  was  to  be  informed  that  he 
would  call  her  up  on  the  telephone,  sometime  in  the  after 
noon,"  Johnson  continued.  "He  then  added  that  this 
change  in  his  plans  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  movements 
of  Mr.  Channing,  who  would  occupy  the  room  reserved 
for  him,  and  might  remain  in  Washington  for  several  days. 
He  further  explained  that  Channing  was  merely  a  business 
acquaintance,  and  that  Mrs.  Enderbrook  didn't  know  him 
even  by  name." 

"Clever  fellow,"  Rennison  repeated.  "And,  naturally, 
you  assured  him  that  the  Weymouthshire  would  do  all  in 
its  power  to  minister  to  Mrs.  Enderbrook's  comfort." 

"Certainly,  sir." 

"And  now  we  come  to  the  woman,  I  suppose,"  said  Ren 
nison.  "When  and  in  what  circumstances  did  she  ap 
pear?" 

"I  explained  to  my  assistant  that  if  Mrs.  Enderbrook 
came  to  the  desk,  I  wanted  to  speak  with  her.  But  I 
was  there  when  she  appeared.  I  just  had  finished  talk 
ing  with  a  guest  when  I  saw,  standing  at  the  desk,  a 
woman  of  medium  height.  She  was  not  a  stout  woman, 
but  whether  she  might  be  described  as  slim,  I  cannot  say. 
She  wore  a  loosely  fitting  automobile  coat,  a  gray  cloth 
hat,  with  a  moderate  brim,  and  a  gray  feather  in  it.  Her 
face  was  entirely  concealed  by  an  automobile  veil.  She 
raised  this  a  little  above  her  mouth  when  she  first  spoke 
to  me,  but  soon  dropped  it,  and  let  it  remain  down. 

"She  said  to  me:  'My  husband,  Mr.  Theodore  Ender 
brook,  is  stopping  here,  I  believe,  and  is  expecting  me. 
Will  you  tell  me,  please,  if  he  is  in?*  She  appeared  to  be 
greatly  disappointed  when  I  told  her  the  substance  of  the 


THE  WOMAN  IN  NUMBER  412  59 

telephone  conversation  with  her  husband.  Incidentally,  I 
mentioned  the  fact  that  he  had  engaged  two  rooms.  She 
asked  who  the  second  was  for.  I  told  her  it  was  for  a 
business  friend  named  Channing.  'I  don't  know  any  Mr. 
Channing,'  she  exclaimed,  rather  pettishly.  No  other 
reference  was  made  to  him.  She  said  she  would  wait  in 
Room  412  for  the  promised  telephone  communication  from 
her  husband.  A  bell-boy  took  her  there,  and  that  was  the 
last  I  saw  of  the  lady." 

"You  say  you  saw  only  her  chin  and  lips?"  Rennison 
asked. 

"That's  all,  Captain.  The  chin  had  a  little  dimple  in 
it.  Her  mouth  was  small,  somewhat  poutish,  I  should  say. 
Her  lips  were  full  and  red.  Somehow  or  other,  she  gave 
me  the  impression  that  she  was  a  pretty  woman,  with  a 
clear  complexion,  and  rather  young — certainly  not  over 
thirty,  at  the  most." 

"Did  you  notice  her  hands !" 

"They  were  not  what  one  would  describe  as  large  hands, 
but  one  would  not  call  them  little — for  a  woman.  She 
wore  gray  lisle  thread  gloves  on  both." 

"You  said  nothing  to  Detective  Coughlin  about  the 
Enderbrooks  when  he  interrogated  you  concerning  Chan 
ning?" 

"No,  sir.  Mrs.  Enderbrook  knew  nothing  of  him,  and 
her  husband  said  he  was  merely  a  business  acquaintance." 

"Enderbrook  did  not  call  the  woman  up  on  the  tele 
phone,  of  course." 

"Not  to  my  knowledge,  sir." 

"Am  I  to  understand  that  you  did  not  tell  Mrs.  Ender 
brook  the  number  of  Channing's  room?" 

"No  reference  was  made  by  either  of  us  to  the  location 
of  his  room." 


60  THE  SCARLET  TAXAGER 

"In  your  talk  with  Endcrbrook  over  the  telephone  did 
you  tell  him  the  number  of  the  rooms  that  had  been  as 
signed  to  him  and  Channing?" 

Johnson  thought  carefully  for  several  moments. 

"Yes — yes,  I  did,"  he  replied.  "While  he  was  speaking, 
he  broke  off  a  sentence  suddenly,  and  asked  me  the  num 
bers  of  the  rooms.  I  told  him." 

"You  were  carrying  those  numbers  in  your  head?" 

"Yes.  Only  a  few  minutes  before  I  had  given  the 
numbers  to  the  cashier,  to  be  charged  in  accordance  with 
the  time  mentioned  in  the  reservation  letter.  Whether 
or  not  the  guests  appeared,  the  charges  against  the  money 
advanced  were  to  date  from  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
The  association  of  guest  names  and  room  numbers  is 
the  readiest  thing  in  the  world  to  a  hotel  clerk." 

"So  far  as  you  know,  then,  no  one  in  the  hotel  saw 
this  woman  after  she  went  to  her  room?  No  one  saw  her 
in  the  hall,  elevators  or  in  the  act  of  leaving  the  hotel." 

"I  know  of  no  one  who  saw  her." 

"I  will  cause  inquiries  to  be  made  to  that  effect,"  put 
in  Worthington. 

"Well,  now  let's  get  to  Channing,"  Rennison  said. 
"What  was  said  by  you  and  Channing  at  the  time  he 
arrived  at  the  hotel?" 

"He  merely  said:  'I  am  Oliver  Channing,  of  New  York. 
I  understand  a  room  has  been  reserved  for  me  by  Mr.  En 
derbrook.'  I  replied:  'Yes,  sir — 415.  Will  you  go  to 
it  now?'  'Yes,'  he  answered.  As  I  gave  the  key  to  a 
bell-boy,  I  remarked :  'Mr.  Enderbrook  did  not  come  with 
you?'  'No,'  he  said.  *He  was  delayed  in  New  York.' ' 

"No  reference  was  made,  then,  to  Room  412  or  Mrs. 
Enderbrook?" 

"None  whatever.     I  have  told  you  all  that  was  said." 


61 

Leaning  forward,  Rennison  rested  his  elbows  on  his 
knees. 

"I  think  that  is  all,  Mr.  Johnson,"  he  said,  thoughtfully. 
"You  have  told  me,  however,  that  the  key  to  Room  41£ 
has  not  been  returned  to  the  desk.  I  feel  certain  that  you 
never  will  see  that  key  again.  If,  therefore,  you  will 
supply  me  with  a  duplicate  key,  and  will  let  me  have  the 
use  of  the  room  to-night,  I  shall  be  greatly  obliged." 

"You  shall  have  it,  of  course,  Captain,"  Worthington 
said.  He  hesitated  as  Johnson  went  off  for  the  key ;  then 
he  added:  "I  think,  in  the  circumstances,  perhaps,  my 
curiosity  is  pardonable,  Captain.  Might  I  ask — — " 

"All  I  can  tell  you  now  is  that  Channing  was  murdered 
and  robbed  in  this  hotel,"  Rennison  interrupted.  "The 
crime  may  have  been  committed  by  this  woman — or  by 
some  one  else.  Later,  I  may  tell  you  more.  There  is 
nothing  in  the  affair  that  will  reflect  on  the  character  of 
your  hotel,  or  any  member  of  your  staff.  Every  effort 
will  be  made  to  avoid  publicity.*' 

In  a  few  moments  a  bell-boy  entered  with  a  duplicate 
key. 

"Thanks,"  said  Rennison.  "You  need  not  trouble  to 
go  with  me,  son.  I  know  the  way." 


CHAPTER  IX. 

DIVIDING    PATHS. 

AFTER  leaving  the  elevator  on  the  fourth  floor,  Renni- 
son  hurried  to  Room  415.  The  policemen  who  had  been 
stationed  in  the  hall  were  gone.  The  door  of  the  room 
was  unlocked.  Rennison  opened  it  and  stepped  in.  He 
saw  that  the  body  had  been  removed,  and  that  the  Coroner 
and  physician  had  left.  Towndrow  and  Coughlin  were 
there,  however.  Both  looked  at  him  gloomily. 

Failing  to  see  the  black  travelling  bag  and  the  pillow 
case  into  which  the  dead  man's  clothing  had  been  thrust, 
Rennison  asked  Towndrow  where  they  were.  The  Secret 
Service  man  explained  they  had  been  sent  to  his  office 
by  one  of  the  "plainclotb.es"  men  who  had  been  stationed 
outside. 

"Well,  then,  I  guess  we're  done  in  here,"  Rennison  said. 
"I  have  engaged  another  room  on  this  floor.  Let's  get 
to  it." 

Together  the  three  men  left  the  room  and  crossed  to 
Room  412.  There  Rennison  opened  the  door.  When  all 
were  in,  the  Army  man  closed  the  door  and  locked  it. 

"It  is  seven  o'clock,  Captain,"  Towndrow  said,  sug 
gestively. 

"True,"  Rennison  replied.  "But,  though  daylight  still 
is  holding  out  pretty  well,  this  inside  room  is  darker  than 
the  other,  and  we'd  better  turn  on  the  electric  light.  Pull 
down  those  shades,  will  you,  Towndrow?" 

He  turned  on  the  switch,  and,  when  the  shades  were 

62 


DIVIDING  PATHS  63 

lowered,  he  moved  two  chairs  toward  the  table  at  which 
one  chair  already  was  in  position. 

"Well,  Captain,  are  we  any  nearer  what  we  have  been 
seeking?"  Towndrow  asked,  as  they  sat  down. 

"I  think  so,'*  Rennison  answered,  confidently.  "But 
there  is  much  to  do  and  we  must  work  quickly." 

"Why  have  you  taken  this  room?"  the  Secret  Service 
man  queried. 

"Because  it  was  occupied,  for  more  than  an  hour  pre 
ceding  the  murder,  by  the  woman  who  committed  the 
crime.'* 

"I  suspected  as  much,"  Towndrow  muttered. 

As  quickly  as  possible,  Rennison  then  informed  his 
companions  of  all  he  had  learned  from  Johnson.  When 
he  was  done,  he  addressed  the  city  detective. 

"Coughlin,  there  are  three  ends  to  this  thing,  and  each 
of  us  will  have  to  handle  one  of  them,"  he  said.  "Town 
drow,  with  the  aid  of  the  Secret  Service  and  the  New  York 
police,  will  try  to  establish  the  identity  of  the  man  who  is 
known  to  us  as  Enderbrook.  It  is  plain  that,  in  some 
manner  or  other,  this  fellow  had  the  confidence  of  Chan- 
ning.  He  knew  Channing  carried  with  him  a  certain  im 
portant  document,  who  he  was  to  see  in  Washington,  at 
what  hour  he  was  to  arrive  in  this  city,  and,  all  the  time, 
was  able  to  communicate  promptly  with  the  woman  by 
whom  the  crime  was  committed.  It  was  he  who  engaged 
both  rooms,  and  it  is  probable  that  each  detail  of  the 
crime  was  worked  out  by  him." 

"He  was  something  of  a  master,"  Towndrow  grumbled. 

"Now,  Coughlin,  it's  up  to  you  to  learn  all  you  can 
concerning  the  actions  of  the  woman  while  she  was  in  this 
hotel,"  Rennison  went  on.  "Worthington  will  give  you 
all  the  assistance  in  his  power.  But  it  is  especially  essen- 


64  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

tial  that  you  learn  the  point  from  which  Enderbrook  tele 
phoned  to  Johnson  this  afternoon.  If  it  was  a  long  dis 
tance  call,  the  operator  of  the  hotel  switchboard  will  have 
some  record  of  it.  It  may  have  come  from  New  York. 
There  is  rather  more  than  a  possibility,  however,  that  it 
came  from  some  point  nearer  Washington — if  not  from 
a  point  in  Washington  itself." 

"You  think,  then,  that  after  posting  that  special  de 
livery  letter  in  New  York,  the  fellow  came  on  here?'* 
Coughlin  inquired. 

"I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  at  the  time  of  the  murder 
he  was  not  far  from  where  we  are  sitting  now,  though 
I  do  not  think  he  was  in  the  hotel." 

"In  that  case  he  probably  already  has  the  papers  we 
seek,"  Towndrow  said,  moodily. 

"Undoubtedly.  That  is  why  I  regard  the  identification 
of  Enderbrook  as  of  primary  importance.  We  may  get 
the  woman  later,  but  the  papers  we  seek  probably  are  in 
the  hands  of  her  male  confederate,  who  directed  her  ef 
forts.  We  must  get  to  him  at  once." 

"I'm  on,"  Coughlin  muttered. 

"Now,  Towndrow,"  Rennison  continued,  "I  wish  you 
would  arrange  with  Captain  Merschon  to  have  him  in 
Room  43X,  in  the  War  Department,  from  eight  o'clock 
to  midnight.  Ask  him  also  to  see  to  it  that  at  midnight 
there  are  with  him  all  who  were  present  at  our  conference 
this  afternoon.  I  think  it  will  be  well  to  have  Captain 
Merschon,  in  Room  43X,  the  center  of  our  activities  for 
the  night,  in  order  that  we  may  keep  in  touch  with  one 
another.  And,  Coughlin " 

He  paused  abruptly.  Wliile  he  was  speaking  he  had 
been  moving  slowly  about  the  room,  with  a  thoughtful 


DIVIDING  PATHS  65 

gaze  on  the  floor.  Now  he  had  stopped  and  was  looking 
at  a  point  where  the  edge  of  the  carpet  met  one  of  the 
walls.  He  pressed  it  lightly  with  the  toe  of  one  of  his 
shoes;  then  he  stooped  and  fumbled  with  the  carpet's 
edge.  A  moment  later  he  drew  back  sharply,  and  looked 
at  the  tip  of  his  right  thumb.  Seeing  it  was  not  bleeding, 
he  took  a  little  knife  from  one  of  his  pockets  and  opened 
from  it  a  nail  file.  With  this  he  pried  from  under  the 
edge  of  the  carpet  a  piece  of  metal.  After  picking  this 
up  he  rose. 

As  Rennison,  stepping  under  the  light  above  the  table, 
examined  the  object  critically,  his  companions  rose  and 
glanced  at  the  metal  curiously.  It  was  steel,  and  about 
eight  inches  long.  Despite  the  fact  that  it  appeared  to 
be  round,  it  had  four  sharp  edges.  The  top,  which 
seemed  to  have  been  broken  off  something,  measured  a 
little  less  than  half  an  inch  across.  From  the  top  it 
gradually  diminished  until  it  came  to  a  sharp,  fine,  two- 
edged  point. 

"What  do  you  make  of  that,  Captain?"  Coughlin  asked, 
wonderingly. 

Rennison  took  an  envelope  from  one  of  the  pockets  of 
his  coat  and  passed  a  corner  of  it  over  one  of  the  edges 
of  the  metal. 

"Fairly  sharp,"  he  muttered  as  he  examined  the  cut  it 
had  made  in  the  paper.  "It's  lucky  I  didn't  cut  my  thumb 
with  it  when  I  tried  to  take  it  from  under  the  carpet." 

"It  looks  like  the  blade  of  one  of  those  fancy  stilettos 
the  Italians  carry,"  Towndrow  mused.  "It's  a  cinch, 
though,  Channing  didn't  come  to  his  death  by  that." 

"Oh,  no,"  Rennison  assented,  abstractedly.  "But  I 
was  about  to  suggest  to  Coughlin  that  he  ask  Dr.  Albert- 


66  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

son  to  make  his  autopsy  report  to  Captain  Merschon  as 
much  before  midnight  as  possible.'* 

"I'll  get  in  touch  with  him  at  once,  Captain,"  the  de 
tective  answered. 

Laying  a  hand  on  one  of  the  shoulders  of  Coughlin, 
Rennison  said: 

"Well,  old  man,  here's  where  our  paths  separate  for  the 
time  being.  Now  get  busy.  Keep  in  touch  with  me 
through  Merschon.  Call  up  the  office  at  least  once  an 
hour." 

In  a  few  moments  the  detective  was  off. 

"I'll  have  to  get  to  Merschon  soon,"  Towndrow  said, 
a  little  irritably. 

"I'm  sorry  to  have  kept  you  here  so  long,"  Rennison 
replied,  "but  when  I  asked  you  to  come  with  me  I  had  a 
reason  for  it.  I  had  no  time  before  leaving  Horsford 
and  the  others  to  be  more  fully  informed  concerning  the 
destruction  of  the  Dragonfly  at  Haynerville.  I  suspected 
then,  and  am  satisfied  now,  that  the  circumstances  inci 
dent  to  the  destruction  of  the  Dragonfly  were  intimately 
related  with  those  with  which  we  have  to  do  in  the  Wey- 
mouthshire  affair.  When  I  say  'intimately,'  I  mean  that 
the  two  incidents  were  not  the  results  of  the  operations 
of  two  groups  of  conspirators,  but  of  one  directing  hand 
— a  person  who  had  not  more  than  one  or  two  confed 
erates." 

"The  same  idea  has  been  in  my  mind,"  said  Towndrow, 
thoughtfully. 

"The  Dragonfly  was  destroyed  by  an  explosion  at  9:30 
this  morning." 

"Yes." 

"And  at  the  time  Channing  left  the  Dragonfly,  at  5 
o'clock  yesterday  afternoon,  the  motor-boat,  and  all  it 


DIVIDING  PATHS  67 

contained,  was  formally  turned  over  to  officials  of  the 
Government?" 

"Exactly.  Each  door  and  hatchway  then  was  sealed 
by  Captain  Reifsnyder,  of  the  Naval  Bureau  of  Experi 
mentation,  under  the  personal  direction  of  Rear  Admiral 
Longley,  one  of  the  naval  officers  representing  the  depart 
ment  at  the  test.  At  7  o'clock  this  morning,  an  official 
inspection  showed  the  seals  to  be  still  intact." 

"During  the  night  there  had  been  no  guard  on  the 
Dragonfly?" 

"No.  But  around  her  had  been  thrown  a  cordon  of 
guard  boats — two  submarines,  a  destroyer  and  four  small 
motor  vessels.  By  the  crews  of  these  she  was  carefully 
watched  through  the  night.  The  shipyard,  off  which  the 
Dragonfly  was  anchored,  was  also  carefully  patrolled." 

"No  protecting  subsurface  net  was  thrown  around  the 
Dragonfly?" 

"None,  I  understand." 

"Leaving  Haynerville,  last  night,  did  Channing  return 
to  New  York  alone?" 

"No.  He  was  accompanied  by  Rear-Admiral  Longley 
and  Captain  Reifsnyder." 

"But,  later  in  the  evening,  Channing  went  to  his  labora 
tory  in  Loudenfield,  New  Jersey." 

"Yes.     He  went  to  Loudenfield  alone." 

"Where  did  Longley  and  Reifsnyder  go  ?" 

"Longley  took  an  evening  train  for  the  Naval  Training 
Station  at  Newport.  Reifsnyder  took  the  midnight  train 
for  Washington." 

"That  arrives  at  the  Union  Station  a  little  before 
seven." 

"Six-forty-five,  to  be  exact." 

"Did  he  come  on  alone?" 


68  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"I  believe  so." 

"Did  Reifsnyder  go  north  for  the  express  purpose  of 
being  present  at  the  test  of  the  Channing  apparatus  on 
the  Dragonfly?" 

"He  might  have  done  so,  inasmuch  as  he  is  attached  to 
the  Bureau  of  Experimentation." 

"Did  he  leave  Washington  on  the  day  of  the  test?" 

"No.  He  left  two  days  before.  On  the  morning  of  the 
day  of  the  Dragonfly  test  he  was  at  Sandy  Hook." 

"What  was  he  doing  there?" 

"Well,  as  3rou  know,  he  is  an  expert  on  the  subject  of 
explosives.  At  Sandy  Hook  he  directed  the  test  of  a  new 
aerial  bomb — a  bomb  to  be  dropped  from  aeroplanes — 
the  invention  of  a  young  machinist  employed  in  the  Wash 
ington  Navy  Yard." 

<eWhat  is  the  name  of  the  inventor  of  the  bomb?" 

"Andrew  McCormick." 

"Where  does  Reifsnyder  stop  when  he  is  in  New  York  ?" 

"At  the  Scotbrae." 

"And  he  was  at  the  Scotbrae  last  night — prior  to  leav 
ing  New  York  for  Washington !" 

"Yes — for  several  hours.     He  registered  there." 

A  little  chuckle  escaped  the  lips  of  Rennison.  Now,  on 
his  knees,  he  was  looking  under  the  bed.  Towndrow 
frowned  irritably  as  he  drew  out  his  Avatch  and  looked  at 
its  face. 

"You  seem  to  be  particularly  well-informed  concerning 
the  movements  of  Captain  Reifsnyder  during  his  absence 
from  Washington,"  Rennison  remarked,  as  he  rose  and 
brushed  off  the  knees  of  his  trousers. 

"Naturally,"  the  Secret  Service  man  replied.  "It  was 
from  Captain  Reifsnyder  that  I  obtained  most  of  my  in- 


DIVIDING  PATHS  69 

formation  concerning  the  Dragonfly  and  its  inspection. 
I  have  known  of  the  Dragonfly's  destruction  since  eleven 
o'clock  this  morning1." 

"Who  is  handling  the  Secret  Service  end  of  this  in  New 
York?"  Rennison  asked. 

"The  Chief,  himself." 

"That's  fortunate,"  Rennison  said,  thoughtfully.  "Are 
you  in  a  position  to  keep  in  constant  touch  with  him 
throughout  the  night?" 

"Yes — through  Captain  Merschon.  That  is  why  I  have 
been  so  anxious  to  get  back  to  the  Navy  Department." 

"In  your  communications  with  the  Chief  has  the  name 
of  Enderbrook  been  mentioned?" 

"No.    You  were  the  first  I  heard  mention  the  name." 

"Well,  it  seems  plain  this  fellow  Enderbrook  was  in 
communication  with  Channing  while  Channing  was  in 
Loudenfield,  or  on  his  way  from  there  to  Washington.  In 
the  circumstances,  I  will  ask  you  to  request  the  Chief  to 
learn  whether  any  telephone  message  was  sent  to  Channing 
at  Loudenfield  last  night,  and  also  to  locate  the  point  from 
which  it  was  sent.  At  his  Loudenfield  laboratory,  Chan 
ning  doubtless  had  an  assistant  or  one  or  more  serv 
ants,  perhaps.  I  would  suggest  that  they  be  interrogated 
on  this  subject  with  as  little  delay  as  possible." 

"All  right,  Captain,  I'll  get  to  Merschon's  office  now 
and  try  to  reach  the  Chief  on  the  New  York  wire.  Mean 
time,  you  are  going  to  keep  after  the  woman  ?" 

Rennison,  who  had  passed  into  the  bathroom,  made  no 
reply.  The  Secret  Service  man  stepped  to  the  bathroom 
door  and  looked  in.  He  saw  that  Rennison,  stooping,  was 
picking  up  something  that  had  been  dropped  between  the 
head  of  the  bathtub  and  the  wall. 


70  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

It  was  a  table  napkin.  As  Rennison  held  it  up  before 
him  and  spread  it  out,  he  saw  it  had  been  cut  in  several 
places  and  that  some  of  the  little  slits  were  parallel. 

"Eh,  Towndrow?"  he  asked,  absently.  "What  was  that 
you  were  saying?" 

"I  said  I'll  be  getting  to  Merschon's  now,  and  I  asked 
you  if  you  were  going  to  keep  after  the  woman." 

As  abstractedly  as  before,  Rennison  answered  him. 

"Yes — yes,  Towndrow,  get  on — to  Merschon's,"  he 
muttered.  "Yes,  as  you  have  said,  I  will  keep  after  the 
woman." 

He  was  gazing  at  a  name  that  had  been  stamped  in  red 
on  a  corner  of  the  napkin.  It  was  "Henneshaw." 

For  several  moments  a  frown  darkened  his  features ; 
then  his  face  cleared  slowly. 

Towndrow  went  out. 


CHAPTER  X, 

THE  IDLEB/S   CHOICE. 

As  soon  as  he  was  alone,  Rennison  went  to  the  telephone 
on  the  wall  and  took  down  the  receiver.  The  number  for 
which  he  asked  was  that  of  a  fashionable  apartment  house 
in  the  Northwest  section  of  the  city.  When  he  got  it,  he 
asked  for  Suite  13.  This  was  soon  obtained. 

"Is  that  you,  Colton?"  he  asked. 

"Yes,  sir,"  was  the  response. 

"This  is  Captain  Rennison,  Colton.  Is  Mr.  Storrow 
in?" 

"Mr.  Storrow  is  dressing,  sir."1 

"Oh,  he  hasn't  dined,  then?" 

"Yes,  sir.    He  dined,  sir,  before  he  came  home  to  dress." 

Rennison  hesitated  for  a  moment. 

"Ask  him  to  step  to  the  phone,  will  you,  Colton?" 

"Certainly,  sir." 

There  was  a  short  wait,  then  Rennison  heard  Storrow's 
voice. 

"That  you,  Ren?" 

"Yes,  Storrow.    Are  you  getting  ready  to  go  out?" 

"Why,  yes.  I'm  going  to  the  Guilford  reception  and 
dance  to-night.  What's  doing  with  you?  Why  don't  you 
come  along?  You've  had  an  invitation,  of  course." 

"What  time  will  you  be  leaving  your  apartments?" 

"Oh,  in  half  an  hour,  perhaps,  if  there  is  nothing  to  keep 
me  here." 

71 


72  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Will  I  be  interfering  with  your  plans  if  I  drop  in  about 
ten  minutes  from  now?'* 

"Not  in  the  slightest,  old  man.  Come  right  along.  I'll 
be  mighty  glad  to  see  you.'* 

"All  right,  you  may  look  for  me,  then.  I'll  not  detain 
you  long." 

When  Rennison  left  the  telephone,  he  hurried  to  the 
bathroom.  There  he  snatched  a  towel  from  the  rack. 
With  a  blade  of  his  penknife  he  cut  the  towel  in  two.  One 
half  he  tossed  aside.  In  the  other  he  wrapped  the  piece  of 
metal  he  had  found  under  the  edge  of  the  carpet.  He  then 
thrust  the  roll  into  an  inside  pocket  of  his  coat.  He  next 
carefully  folded  the  table  napkin  he  had  found  behind  the 
bathtub,  and  slipped  it  into  one  of  the  hip  pockets  of  his 
trousers.  This  done,  he  picked  up  his  hat  and  cane  from 
the  table,  extinguished  the  light  and  left  the  room,  locking 
the  door  behind  him. 

Upon  reaching  the  main  floor  of  the  hotel,  Rennison, 
without  stopping,  passed  on  to  the  street.  Entering  a 
taxicab,  he  directed  the  driver  to  take  him  to  the  apart 
ment  house  in  which  Storrow  had  his  quarters. 

Storrow's  suite  was  on  the  seventh  floor,  and  to  it  Ren 
nison  was  admitted  by  Colton,  the  valet.  As  the  visitor 
passed  into  the  living-room,  Storrow,  without  a  coat  or 
vest,  approached  through  the  door  of  his  bedroom  beyond. 

"Glad  to  see  you,  Ren,"  Storrow  said,  cordially,  ex 
tending  both  his  hands  and  grasping  the  hand  which  Ren 
nison  held  out  perfunctorily. 

But  in  the  aspect  of  the  visitor  there  was  something 
which  caused  the  cheerful-tempered  idler  to  view  him  quiz 
zically.  The  eyes  of  the  young  Army  officer  were  cold. 
His  features  were  expressive  of  abstraction.  Storrow 
slapped  him  on  one  of  his  shoulders. 


THE  IDLER'S  CHOICE  73 

"Still  in  the  glooms,  eh !"  he  exclaimed.  "Come,  laddie, 
shake  them.  What's  more  beautiful  than  Washington  in 
May?  And  here  we  are — right  in  the  midst  of  it.  Flow 
ers  are  blooming  in  all  the  parks  and  circles  and  squares, 
the  Potomac  is  shimmering  in  Spring  sunshine  and  the 
notes  of  robins,  orioles,  wrens  and  cardinal  birds  are  try 
ing  to  woo  us  from  the  thoughts  of—  But  tell  me,  Ren. 
You  didn't  come  here  to  assure  yourself  that  I  was  pack 
ing  up  for  that  little  Canadian  expedition  you  suggested, 
I  hope." 

Still  laughing,  Storrow,  followed  by  Colton,  returned  to 
his  bedroom.  When  he  reappeared  he  wore  his  evening 
coat  and  a  white  vest.  He  advanced  cheerfully,  laid  a 
hand  on  one  of  Rennison's  shoulders,  then  sank  into  a  big 
leather  chair  opposite  his  visitor. 

"Well,  Ren,  my  boy,  what  is  there  in  the  wind?"  he 
asked. 

"Dust — mostly,"  Rennison  drawled,  as,  leaning  back 
in  his  chair,  he  puffed  at  his  cigar  and  looked  meditatively 
at  the  ceiling. 

"Is  your  trip  to  London  off?"  Storrow  queried,  eyeing 
his  friend  curiously. 

"No — only  delayed  a  few  days,  I  believe.  I  have  a  little 
affair  to  clear  up  before  I  go,  but  I  think  it  will  not  take 
me  long." 

"A  little  affair,  eh?"  Storrow  muttered,  with  a  laugh. 
"Nothing  with  a  woman  in  it,  of  course." 

"Well,  I  am  not  altogether  certain  that  a  woman  will 
not  play  a  leading  role  in  it  before  I  get  it  off  my  hands," 
Rennison  replied.  "But,  as  long  as  we  are  on  the  subject 
of  affairs,  perhaps  you  will  tell  me  what  you  were  doing 
in  Henneshaw's  to-day." 

Storrow,  giving  a  little  start,  looked  at  his  companion 


74  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

sharply.  Rennison,  smiling  slightly,  was  gazing  at  the 
tip  of  his  cigar. 

"I — at  Henneshaw's !"  the  idler  exclaimed. 

"Why,  yes — yes — you — at  Henneshaw's,"  laughed  Ren 
nison. 

Storrow  chuckled,  as  coloring  a  little,  he  puffed  more 
vigorously  at  his  cigar  and  sank  deeper  into  his  chair. 

Henneshaw's  occupies  a  unique  position  among  the  so 
cial  institutions  of  the  National  capital.  It  is  never 
entered  by  couples,  but  is  a  popular  place  for  the  keeping 
of  appointments.  It  is  situated  in  a  building  at  the  cor 
ner  of  a  certain  avenue  and  a  numbered  street.  It  is  on 
the  second  floor,  above  a  millinery  shop,  and  only  through 
this  shop  can  it  be  approached  by  its  woman  patrons, 
who  reach  it  by  ascending  a  carefully  screened  stairway 
in  the  rear.  Men  patrons  obtain  access  by  means  of  a 
circular  staircase  in  the  rear  of  a  cigar  store  on  the  num 
bered  street.  Booths  may  be  engaged  in  advance,  and 
only  persons  who  have  become  patrons  by  virtue  of  having 
been  introduced  by  other  patrons  are  admitted.  Each 
booth,  screened  with  artificial  rose  vines,  and  attended  by 
a  discreet  waitress,  contains  only  a  green  table  and  two 
green  chairs. 

Henneshaw's  is  noted  for  the  excellent  quality  of  its  tea. 
Originally  it  was  conducted  in  conjunction  with  the  mil 
linery  shop,  and  was  patronized  exclusively  by  women 
shoppers.  Subsequently,  however,  the  privileges  of  the 
place  were  extended  to  men  patrons,  with  the  distinct 
understanding  that  they  should  not  enter  through  the 
millinery  shop,  and  that  their  conversation  should  be  re 
stricted  to  such  women  patrons  as  they  might  meet  there 
by  appointment.  Though  conducted  with  a  strict  regard 
for  propriety,  Henneshaw's  still  serves  as  a  convenient 


THE  IDLER'S  CHOICE  75 

meeting  place  for  persons  who  do  not  want  to  be  seen 
together  elsewhere. 

"Did  you  see  me  at  Henneshaw's,  Ren?"  Storrow  asked, 
still  smiling. 

"Well,  you  might  regard  the  inference  as  obvious,  Stor 
row,  when  I  tell  you  that  you  were  with  a  lady  who  wore  an 
automobile  coat,  a  gray  hat  with  a  gray  feather  and  a 
veil  which  concealed  her  face." 

A  thoughtful  expression  came  to  Storrow's  features, 
and  he  nodded  gravely. 

"Yes,  Ren,"  he  said.     "I  was  there." 

Rennison  who  had  been  regarding  his  friend  with  what 
appeared  to  be  little  more  than  casual  interest,  now 
dropped  his  gaze  to  the  floor.  Storrow's  fingers  drummed 
on  the  arms  of  his  chair.  For  several  moments  both  men 
smoked  silently. 

"Always  a  woman,  eh,  Storrow,"  Rennison  said,  with  a 
smile.  "Like  a  butterfly,  you  always  seem  to  be  winging 
your  flight  from  flower  to  flower.  I  often  wonder  whether 
the  end  of  your  next  forty  years  will  find  you  still  a 
squire  of  dames." 

"No,  Ren,"  Storrow  answered,  with  a  little  sigh.  "I 
am  inclined  to  believe  my  butterfly  days  are  past." 

"Tut,  tut!"  Rennison  exclaimed,  incredulously.  "You 
have  allowed  your  Henneshaw  lady  to  depress  you.'* 

"But  I  am  not  depressed,"  Storrow  protested,  laugh 
ingly.  "The  fact  is  I  am  in  a  condition  that  might  be  de 
scribed  as  exalted — perhaps  'ecstatic'  might  describe  it 
more  accurately." 

"Indeed !  You  don't  mean  that,  unlike  the  other  mem 
bers  of  her  sex,  she  is  making  a  serious  impression  upon 
you?" 

"Just  that,  Ren.     It  was  in  my  mind  this  afternoon  to 


76  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

make  a  clean  breast  of  the  situation  to  you,  but  when  you 
insisted  that  I  should  go  to  Canada,  I  altered  my  pur 
pose.  The  lady  who  was  with  me  in  Henneshaw's  to-day 
is  going  to  be  my  wife." 

As  Storrow  made  this  revelation,  he  was  looking  at  the 
face  of  his  companion,  who,  however,  showed  no  evidence 
of  surprise.  Each  gazed  steadily  at  the  other. 

"You  would  not  have  me  congratulate  you  blindly,  Stor 
row?"  Rennison  asked. 

"No,"  said  Storrow.  "She  is  a  lady  whose  name,  at 
least,  is  not  unknown  to  you.  I  am  a  little  afraid,  how 
ever,  that,  by  naming  her,  I  am  going  to  shock  you  a  bit, 
for  it  may  seem  to  you  that  she — well,  that  her  position 
in  life  is  a  little  equivocal." 

"I  could  not  conceive  it  possible  that  you  would  choose 
as  your  wife  a  woman  who  was  unworthy  of  you,  old  man," 
Rennison  replied. 

"She  is  worthy — all  of  that.  Bu£  she  is  a  little  mis 
understood,  and  she  is  fifteen  years  younger  than  I  am. 
And  yet — well,  a  man  of  forty  isn't  old,  Ren." 

"Some  reach  that  age  before  they  really  begin  to  live,'* 
Rennison  said. 

"I've  had  one  matrimonial  experience,  Ren,"  Storrow 
went  on.  "It  was  a  failure,  for  domestic  life  didn't  quite 
appeal  to  me  in  those  days.  I  wanted  freedom,  and  I've 
had  it.  But  I've  reached  forty,  and  the  things  that  looked 
to  me  best  in  the  past  are  beginning  to  pall.  I  want  a  new 
relation  in  life.  And  so  I  have  decided  to  become  the 

husband  of Are  you  prepared  to  withstand  a  shock, 

my  boy?" 

"I'll  try,"  said  Rennison. 

"Miriam  Warburton." 


THE  IDLER'S  CHOICE  77 

Glancing  furtively  at  his  visitor,  Storrow  saw  him  flick 
the  ash  from  his  cigar  and  settle  back  further  in  his  chair. 
His  features  were  expressionless. 

"The  Scarlet  Tanager,  eh?"  Rennison  murmured. 

"The  Scarlet  Tanager,"  Storrow  repeated,  softly. 

Both  men  smoked  silently.  Storrow  took  a  magazine 
from  the  table  and  turned  its  pages  absently.  Rennison 
looked  toward  where  a  Constable  landscape,  in  a  gilt 
frame,  hung  on  one  of  the  walls.  But  the  Constable  was 
not  the  picture  that  he  saw.  Before  him,  painted  by  his 
fancy,  was  the  portrait  of  a  woman,  and  his  thoughts  went 
back  to  the  night  he  had  seen  her  first — playing  the  title 
role  of  "The  Scarlet  Tanager,"  a  British  drama  that  had 
taken  the  theatre-going  public  of  New  York  by  storm.  A 
faint  thrill  stole  over  him  as  he  recalled  the  great  climax 
of  the  play — and  the  splendid,  quivering  woman  in  the 
scarlet  gown.  That  was  three  years  before,  but  it  was 
Miriam  Warburton's  last  season  on  the  stage.  Several 
times  since  her  retirement  he  had  seen  her  in  unexpected 
places — twice  at  society  functions  in  New  York,  once  in 
a  dimly  lighted  corner  of  a  Greenwich  Village  restaurant, 
wrhere  a  carelessly  dressed  man  of  foreign  appearance  held 
her  hands  as  he  addressed  her  earnestly.  On  another  oc 
casion  he  learned,  quite  accidentally,  that  she  had  been 
registered  under  an  assumed  name  in  a  Philadelphia  hotel. 
Once  he  had  seen  her  hurrying  out  of  the  office  of  the 
Under  Secretary  of  State,  in  Washington. 

"You  know  something  of  her  history,  I  suppose,"  Stor 
row  said,  breaking  the  silence. 

"Very  little — except  that  the  title  of  her  most  success 
ful  play  seems  always  to  have  stuck  to  her,"  Rennison 
replied.  "Wherever  she  has  appeared  the  old  name  has 


78  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

cropped  up.  She  is  always  'the  Tanager* — the  'Scarlet 
Tanager.'  " 

"Well,  Ren,  I  daresay  you,  like  the  rest  of  the  world, 
regard  her  as  a  London  society  woman  who  put  conven 
tionality  behind  her  when  she  went  on  the  stage.  I  know 
she  has  been  the  subject  of  certain  gossip,  but  this  has 
been  as  unwarrantable  as  it  has  been  unfortunate.  Her 
stage  career  followed  the  collapse  of  her  father's  fortune 
and  the  breaking  of  her  engagement  to  Lord  Rothing- 
hithe,  who  was  unworthy  of  her.  It  is  true  that,  from 
time  to  time,  she  received  marked  attention  from  certain 
of  our  society  men  and  that  it  once  was  reported  she  was 
engaged  to  that  fool  Italian  Prince  who  disappeared  so 
suddenly  from  Newport- — -and  the  country.  But  I  have 
the  best  reasons  in  the  world  for  being  satisfied  that  in  her 
life  there  has  been  nothing  that  would  merit  a  word  of 
reproach.  There  is  not  a  phase  of  her  character  that  is 
not  distinctly  admirable.'* 

Leaning  forward,  with  his  elbows  on  the  arms  of  his 
chair,  Rennison  was  gazing  moodily  at  the  floor. 

"I  am  to  have  your  congratulations,  of  course,"  Stor- 
row  suggested. 

As  Rennison's  silence  was  maintained,  a  flush  of  resent 
ment  stole  slowly  over  the  face  of  the  idler. 

"This  sort  of  thing  is  unlike  you,  Ren,'*  he  muttered, 
"but  if  you  know  of  any  reason " 

Dropping  slowly  back  in  his  chair  again,  Rennison  re 
garded  his  companion  coldly. 

"Storrow,"  he  began,  "when  we  met  before  this  after 
noon,  over  in  my  rooms,  I  told  you  that  you  would  find  it 
to  your  advantage  to  leave  town  on  the  five-thirty  train 
to-morrow  afternoon — with  Canada  as  your  destination." 

"Oh,  yes,  you  did  make  some  such  suggestion,"  replied 


THE  IDLER'S  CHOICE  79 

Storrow,  whose  dark  eyes  were  beginning  to  flash  wrath- 
fully.  ^ 

"It  is  unfortunate  that  I  made  it  too  late,"  Rennison 
muttered,  grimly. 

"True,"  Storrow  assented.  "Inasmuch  as  Miss  War- 
burton  is  in  Washington,  and  expects  to  remain  here  for 
some  weeks,  it  is  only  natural  that  I  should  be  disinclined 
to  leave  the  city  at  present." 

"It  was  not  to  this  fact  that  I  referred  when  I  said  my 
suggestion  to  you  came  too  late.  There  is  a  situation  far 
more  serious  that  now  will  detain  you  here." 

"Indeed !"  exclaimed  Storrow,  coldly. 

"Yes.  When  I  spoke  to  you  on  the  subject  this  after 
noon  I  explained  that  my  motive  in  doing  so  was  to  keep 
you  out  of  serious  trouble — that  you  are  a  blunderer  and 
that  you  are  keeping  dangerous  company.  You  uncon 
sciously  absorb  certain  sorts  of  information  which  may 
appear  innocent  enough  until  it  is  conveyed,  in  your  gos- 
sippy  manner,  to  the  wrong  persons." 

"Do  you  mean  to  insinuate,  Rennison,  that  I  am  a  fool 
— that  my  patriotism  is  not  as  untarnished  as  }rour  own !" 
Storrow  demanded,  angrily. 

"I  have  no  reflection  whatever  to  make  on  your  patriot 
ism,  Storrow,"  Rennison  replied.  "But  I  am  compelled 
to  assert,  most  unequivocally,  that  you  are  a  fool." 

Storrow  nodded,  then  rose  stiffly.  His  face  was  tense 
and  pale. 

"That's  all,  I  think,  Rennison,"  he  said.  "I  am  sorry 
that  our  pleasant  relations  should  end  so  unfortunately. 
I  am  sorry,  too,  that,  in  bidding  you  good-night,  I  cannot 
offer  you  my  hand." 

Rennison,  ignoring  the  hint,  did  not  rise  from  his  chair. 
Looking  thoughtfully  at  his  cigar,  he  said: 


80  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"My  language,  Storrow,  is  not  more  plain  than  my 
proof." 

"Proof  that  I  have  been  a  fool,  eh?"  exclaimed  Storrow, 
bitterly,  as,  folding  his  arms,  he  leaned  against  the  table. 
"Well,  I'll  not  deny  that  I  am  curious.  Let  us  have  it, 
then." 

"You  shall  have  it.  You  will  remember  that  while  I 
was  with  you  this  afternoon  I  was  called  to  the  telephone. 
When  I  left  the  instrument  I  told  you  my  departure  from 
Washington  would  be  delayed." 

"Yes." 

"The  delay  was  due  to  the  fact  that  there  just  had  been 
committed  in  one  of  the  big  hotels  in  this  city,  by  a  person 
who  apparently  was  an  agent  of  Seafalcon's  Brotherhood, 
one  of  the  most  daring  and  mysterious  crimes  this  country 
ever  has  known.  It  consisted  of  murder  and  robbery. 
The  motive  of  the  crime  was  obvious,  for  from  the  body  of 
the  victim  was  taken  a  document  that  was  of  vital  impor 
tance  to  certain  plans  of  the  United  States  Government. 
The  loss  of  this  document  means  not  only  the  sacrifice  of 
thousands  of  American  lives,  but  its  possession  by  Sea- 
falcon  may  secure  for  him  absolute  supremacy  on  the 
seas." 

"Great  Heaven,  Ren !"  Storrow  exclaimed,  and  there 
was  a  note  of  genuine  concern  in  the  new  interest  that 
now  found  expression  in  his  voice  and  on  his  features. 
But  scarcely  had  the  exclamation  left  his  lips  when  a 
puzzled  frown  came  to  his  face,  and  he  added:  "This  is 
a  desperately  serious  situation,  of  course,  Rennison,  but 
why  should  you  cite  the  commission  of  such  a  crime  as 
incident  to  what  you  regard  as  proof  of  my  tendency  to 
acts  of  folly?" 

"You  will  understand,  my  dear  Storrow,  that  it  is  very 


THE  IDLER'S  CHOICE  81 

much  in  point  when  I  tell  you  that  there  is  every  reason 
to  believe  that  this  missing  document  has  been  for  several 
hours  in  your  possession — if,  indeed,  it  is  not  in  your 
possession  now," 


CHAPTER  XI. 

A  TEST    OF   X.OYAX.TY. 

GRIPPING  the  edge  of  the  table  on  which  he  leaned, 
Storrow  looked  with  widening  eyes  at  his  guest. 

"Rennison — are  you  mad !"  he  gasped. 

"It  is  not  my  sanity,  but  your  faculty  for  blundering, 
that  is  about  to  be  subjected  to  a  test.  It  is  not  with 
theories,  but  with  evidence,  that  we  have  to  do." 

"What  is  your  evidence,  then?"  demanded  Storrow, 
angrily.  "What  evidence  have  you  of  a  nature  that  leads 
you  to  believe  that  my  loyalty  is  not  as  untainted  as  your 
own — that  I  am  involved  in  a  conspiracy  against  our 
government  ?" 

Rennisonys  lips  were  set  grimly  as  he  drew  from  an 
inside  pocket  of  his  coat  an  oblong  object.  In  a  few 
moments  he  had  taken  from  the  half-towel  in  which  it 
was  wrapped  the  piece  of  metal  he  had  found  under  the 
edge  of  a  carpet  in  the  Weymouthshire.  As  he  dropped 
the  metal  on  the  table,  he  glanced  interrogatively  at  his 
companion. 

"Does  this  resemble  anything  you  have  seen  before, 
Storrow?"  he  asked. 

Storrow  looked  at  it  curiously,  then  raised  it  gingerly. 

"Why,  no — yes,"  he  muttered.  "It  looks  like  the 
broken  point  of  the  sort  of  sword  I  have  in  my  cane." 

"Does  it?"  Rennison  queried  softly. 

His  host  looked  at  the  metal  more  narrowly.  His 

82 


83 

features  were  tense  as  he  glanced  at  the  young  Army 
officer. 

"The  crime  of  which  you  have  spoken  was  not  com 
mitted  with  this !"  he  exclaimed  in  a  shaking  voice. 

"The  blade  is  broken,  as  you  see,"  Rennison  replied. 
"The  next  move  of  this  test  of  ours  is  up  to  you,  I 
think." 

Storrow,  breathing  heavily,  was  about  to  touch  an  elec 
tric  button  under  an  edge  of  the  table  when  Rennison 
spoke  again. 

"You  trust  Colton,  your  man,  absolutely,  I  suppose," 
he  said. 

Storrow  stiffened  suddenly,  and  the  hand  he  had  ex 
tended  fell  to  his  side.  He  flushed  and  the  expression 
of  wonder  deepened  on  his  face. 

"I  trust  no  one — now,"  he  muttered. 

He  darted  a  quick,  searching  glance  at  Rennison,  and 
walked  briskly  toward  the  entrance  hall  of  his  apartment. 
Rennison  hesitated,  then,  with  a  dubious,  self -reproachful 
expression  on  his  features,  he  rose  and  followed  him. 

As  Storrow  reached  the  hall  he  became  conscious  of  the 
fact  that  his  friend  was  behind  him. 

"That's  right,  Ren,"  he  said,  bitterly.  "Like  me,  1 
see,  you  are  going  to  take  no  chances." 

"None,"  Rennison  answered. 

Halting  at  a  hat-rack  in  the  hall,  Storrow  took  from 
beside  it  his  prized  Malacca  cane.  The  glances  of  the 
two  men  met,  then  Storrow  led  the  way  back  to  the  room 
they  had  left.  Arriving  there,  Storrow  laid  the  cane  on 
the  table.  Having  done  this,  he  bowed  curtly  to  Ren 
nison,  then  drew  back. 

The  bow  was  returned  by  the  Army  man,  who  waved  a 
hand  toward  the  cane. 


84  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"It  still  is  up  to  you,  Storrow,"  Rennison  said.  "The 
stick  is  yours." 

The  idler  hesitated.  A  growing  fear  was  In  his  eyes 
as  his  gaze  met  that  of  Rennison. 

"Open  the  stick,"  Rennison  directed. 

Taking  the  cane  from  the  table,  Storrow  unscrewed  the 
ivory  head  and  drew  out  a  blade  of  steel.  Both  men  saw 
the  point  of  this  had  been  broken  off. 

Beads  of  perspiration  began  to  gather  on  Storrow's 
forehead. 

"Broken — broken!"  the  idler  muttered  helplessly. 
"What,  in  Heaven 's  name,  does  all  this  mean,  Ren?" 

The  gaze  of  his  horror-dilated  eyes  was  upon  the  end 
of  the  broken  blade. 

"It  means  your  thoughts  are  running  along  a  wrong 
track,  old  man,"  Rennison  replied  quietly.  "The  chap 
who  was  murdered  this  afternoon  was  not  killed  with  this 
blade  of  yours." 

This  assurance  brought  omy  a  momentary  expression 
of  relief  to  Storrow's  face. 

"But —  "  he  protested,  weakly. 

The  attention  of  the  cane's  owner  still  was  concentrated 
on  the  broken  blade.  Rennison,  however,  quickly  reached 
for  the  Malacca  sheath  which  Storrow  had  tossed  to  the 
table. 

Holding  the  cane  in  a  perpendicular  position,  with  the 
ferule  upward,  the  Army  man  struck  it  sharply,  several 
times,  against  the  table.  At  length  from  inside  the  stick 
slipped  a  thin  roll  of  paper,  closely  bound  with  florist's 
wire. 

An  incoherent  exclamation  of  amazement  escaped  Stor 
row's  lips. 

Moving  quickly,  Rennison  unwound  the  wire  from  the 


A  TEST  OF  LOYALTY  85 

spill,  and  then  spread  out  on  the  table  five  sheets  of  tissue 
paper.  On  one  sheet  was  drawn  a  checkered  heart.  The 
others  were  filled  with  close-lined  typewriting. 

"That's  all,"  Rennison  said  shortly.  "What  is  written 
here  is  not  for  your  perusal  or  mine." 

Thus  speaking,  he  folded  the  sheets  carefully  and 
thrust  them  into  a  pocketbook. 

There  was  a  hunted  look  in  Storrow's  eyes  as  he  said, 
huskily : 

"Ren,  you've  got  me  in  deep  water — way  beyond  my 
depth.  You  are  not  a  man  to  make  me  the  victim  of  a 
practical  joke,  of  course — on  a  subject  so  serious  as 
this." 

"No,  Storrow,"  Rennison  answered,  gravely.  "The 
sheets  of  paper  which  you  saw  were  taken  by  a  murderer 
from  the  body  of  a  murdered  man.  The  secret  which  they 
hold  may  decide  the  fate  of  Seafalcon  and  his  powerful 
Brotherhood." 

"But  how,  in  Heaven's  name,  did  they  get  into  my 
cane?"  Storrow  demanded. 

Rennison  looked  at  him  coldly. 

"Well,  if  you  are  not  a  blunderer  and  are  not  addicted 
to  the  habit  of  getting  into  dangerous  company,  you 
should  be  able  to  answer  that  question  easily,"  Rennison 
retorted.  "You  now  will  understand  that,  though  I  had 
no  suspicion  of  your  predicament  when  I  warned  you  this 
afternoon  to  leave  Washington,  I  was  justified  in  my  be 
lief  that,  sooner  or  later,  you  would  become  involved  in 
trouble  of  a  serious  nature.  You  demanded  proof  of  my 
assertion  that  you  are  a  natural  blunderer,  and  I  have 
given  it  to  you.  It  now  is  up  to  both  of  us  to  evolve  some 
line  of  conduct  that  will  get  you  out  of  your  difficulty." 

"But,  Rennison,  I  give  you  my  word  that  I  know  noth- 


86  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

ing  of  this  affair — except  what  you  have  told  me,  and 
that  is  little  enough.  Why  should  that  roll  of  paper 
be  thrust  into  my  cane?'* 

"That  is  something  which  it  is  essential  that  you  make 
clear  to  me  without  delay.  Inasmuch  as  the  cane  is 
yours  and  appears  to  have  been  continuously  in  your 
possession  in  the  last  twelve  hours,  which  embrace  the 
period  in  which  the  crime  was  committed,  it  is  obvious 
that  it  is  up  to  you  to  explain  how  these  sheets  of  paper 
were  placed  inside  of  it.  The  seriousness  of  the  matter 
is  so  great  that,  from  this  moment,  you  must  regard 
yourself  as  a  marked  man.  On  the  trail  of  this  paper  are 
the  keenest  secret  agents  of  several  departments  of  the 
Government.  In  the  circumstances,  the  mere  fact  that 
these  sheets  are  in  your  possession  to-night  might  make 
you  the  object  of  the  attention  of  a  hangman  and  his 
assistants.  The  person  who  concealed  the  sheets  in  the 
cane  must  be  identified — and  quickly." 

"Surely,  Rennison,  you  do  not  suspect  that  I " 

"Frankly,  Storrow,  I  believe  you  to  be  as  loyal  to  your 
country  as  I  am,"  Rennison  interrupted,  reassuringly. 
"But  your  loyalty  is  now  about  to  be  put  to  the  test. 
As  you  have  said,  you  have  not  been  made  the  victim  of 
a  practical  joke.  At  three  o'clock  this  afternoon  those 
sheets  of  paper  Avere  in  the  possession  of  a  man  who  was 
on  his  way  to  deliver  them  to  a  certain  high  official  of 
the  Navy  Department.  At  four  o'clock  this  afternoon 
the  body  of  this  man,  the  victim  of  murder,  was  found  in 
a  room  in  a  Washington  hotel.  The  sheets  of  paper  then 
were  missing  from  the  pocket  in  which  he  had  carried 
them.  Now,  a  little  after  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
I  have  found  them  in  a  walking  stick  which  you  always 
carry  with  you.  How  did  they  get  there?" 


A  TEST  OF  LOYALTY  87 

Storrow,  bewildered  and  horrified,  shook  his  head  help 
lessly. 

"I  cannot  tell  you,  Rennison,"  he  answered.  "I  do 
not  know." 

Perspiration  was  streaming  down  his  face,  as,  with  his 
hands  in  the  pockets  of  his  trousers,  he  strode  nervously 
to  and  fro.  Suddenly  he  stopped  and  looked  again  at 
Rennison  who  was  eyeing  him  speculatively. 

"You  say,  Ren,  this  murder  occurred  between  three  and 
four  o'clock?"  he  asked. 

"Yes — about  three-thirty,  I  should  say." 

"It  was  about  that  time  I  arrived  at  your  rooms  to 
say  good-bye  to  you.  I  was  with  you  until  after  four." 

"True,"  Rennison  assented,  thoughtfully.  "But  where 
did  you  go  after  you  left  me?" 

"I  called  on  a  friend  in  the  Columbia  Heights  section," 
Storrow  answered,  abstractedly. 

"Man  or  woman?"  Rennison  asked. 

Storrow,  hesitating,  looked  at  his  companion  sharply; 
then  he  replied. 

"It  was  Miss  Warburton." 

"What  time  did  you  reach  there?" 

"About  six,  I  think.     I  left  a  little  after  seven." 

"Where  did  you  have  dinner?" 

"With  Miss  Warburton — in  her  rooms.  It  was  served 
by  a  waiter,  who  brought  it  up  from  the  restaurant  on  the 
first  floor  of  the  building." 

"Was  any  one  present  besides  Miss  Warburton,  the 
waiter  and  yourself?" 

"Miss  Warburton's  maid  was  in  the  apartment." 

"Is  a  dinner  with  Miss  Warburton,  in  her  apartment, 
a  usual  thing  with  you,  Storrow?" 

"No.     We  usually  dine  elsewhere.     To-night,  however, 


88  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Miss  Warburton  was  ill — a  violent  headache.  She  de 
clined  my  invitation  to  dine  with  me  downtown  before 
I  was  to  go  to  the  Guilfords'  reception,  and  suggested 
that  we  have  something  sent  up  from  the  restaurant." 

"What  time  was  it  you  were  with  Miss  Warburton  at 
Henneshaw's  ?" 

"Why  ask  me  that,  Ren?"  Storrow  said,  irritably.  "Did 
you  not  tell  me  that  you  saw  us  there?" 

"No,"  Rennison  replied.  "Though  I  had  reason  to  be 
lieve  that  you  and  a  woman  companion  were  at  Henne 
shaw's  to-day,  I  did  not  see  you  there." 

Storrow  regarded  his  friend  quizzically. 

"You  described  rather  accurately  the  costume  she  wore, 
Ren,"  he  protested. 

"Perhaps,"  Rennison  answered  shortly.  "But  you  are 
not  replying  to  my  question.  What  time  were  you  and 
Miss  Warburton  at  Henneshaw's?" 

"Between  noon  and  one  o'clock." 

"Did  you  leave  her  alone  in  the  dining  booth?" 

"For  only  four  or  five  minutes.  She  asked  me  to 
telephone  to  cancel  an  appointment  she  had  with  her 
dentist  in  the  afternoon." 

"Did  you  take  your  cane  with  you  to  the  telephone 
booth?" 

"No.  But — Rennison — surely,  you — No — not  that — 
it  is  impossible!" 

Storrow's  face  was  gray.  His  hands,  clutching  the 
arms  of  his  chair,  were  trembling.  His  eyes  were  dull 
with  fear  and  wonder.  Rennison  saw  his  temples  throb 
bing. 

"Do  you  mean,  Rennison —  Storrow  began,  and 
stopped. 

The  gray  eyes  of  Rennison  were  stern,  but  on  his  face 


A  TEST  OF  LOYALTY  89 

there  was  an  expression  that  was  indicative  of  sympathy 
and  pity,  as  he  said,  quietly: 

"I  mean,  Storrow,  that  the  murder  in  the  Weymouth- 
shire  this  afternoon  was  committed  by  Miriam  Warbur- 
ton — the  'Scarlet  Tanager' — who  took  from  the  body  of 
her  victim  the  sheets  of  paper  I  found  in  your  sword- 
cane.  The  theft  of  those  sheets  constituted  a  crime  far 
more  serious  than  mere  murder.  It  was  treason.  The 
evidence  has  been  found  in  your  possession.  You  may 
clear  yourself  by  making  your  choice  between  a  woman  and 
your  loyalty  to  your  country.  Now,  make  it.  Is  that 
choice  Miriam  Warburton  or  the  United  States?" 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE   HOUE   OF  SACRIFICE. 

STORROW'S  big  frame  was  shaking  as  he  continued  to 
gaze  into  the  stern  eyes  of  the  man  who  just  had  charged 
Miriam  Warburton  with  murder.  Dazed  as  he  was,  he 
still  was  making  a  powerful  effort  to  regain  his  self- 
control.  But  his  voice  trembled  as  he  said: 

"There  can  be  no  question  concerning  the  choice  of 
which  you  speak,  Ren.  There  is  no  man  or  woman  on  this 
earth  who  can  stand  between  me  and  loyalty  to  my 
country." 

"I  believe  you,  Storrow.' 

"But  the  situation  is  not  quite  clear  to  me,"  the  idler 
went  on.  "You  have  said  the  crime  was  committed  between 
three  and  four  o'clock — at  the  Weymouthshire.  Between 
noon  and  one  o'clock  Miss  Warburton  and  I  were  to 
gether  in  Henneshaw's.  The  cane  then  was  in  my  pos 
session.  It  still  was  in  my  possession  when,  a  little  after 
one,  I  went  to  the  club,  and  had  it  checked,  with  my  hat, 
at  the  coat  room.  I  had  it  when,  having  left  the  club, 
about  three-thirty,  I  walked  to  your  room.  When  I  left 
you,  I  called  Miss  Warburton  on  the  telephone,  to  ask 
her  to  take  dinner  with  me,  before  I  was  to  go  to  the 
Guilfords.  Learning  she  was  ill,  I  took  a  taxi,  and  went 
to  her  apartments." 

"And  the  cane  went  with  you,"  Rennison  muttered. 

"Yes — I  took  it  with  me  to  Miss  Warburton's." 

90 


THE  HOUR  OF  SACRIFICE  91 

"Well,  that  part  of  the  affair  which  has  to  do  with 
you  and  your  cane  is  perfectly  clear,"  the  Army  man 
said.  "It  also  is  clear  that  the  crime  was  the  result  of 
careful  premeditation.  Its  details  were  conceived  in  the 
mind  of  a  master.  The  task  of  murdering  Channing  and 
obtaining  from  the  body  the  sheets  of  paper  which  were 
so  desirable  was  entrusted  to  Miss  Warburton.  But  the 
master  was  taking  no- chances  of  discovery.  He  would  not 
meet  Miss  Warburton  himself,  nor  would  he  trust  any 
messenger — stranger  or  friend.  The  fact  that  you  car 
ried  a  Malacca  sword-cane,  which  went  with  you  every 
where,  was  known  to  him.  The  cane  went  with  you  to 
Miss  Warburton's  apartments,  to  your  club,  to  restaur 
ants,  theaters,  roadhouses,  the  golf  links  and  to  social 
functions  at  night.  Incidentally,  you  were  going  to  take 
it  with  you  to  the  Guilfords'  reception,  were  you  not?'* 

"Why,  yes — certainly." 

"And  Miss  Warburton  knew  you  were  going  to  the 
Guilfords'?" 

"Yes — I  told  her  of  my  intention." 

"There  really  was  no  need  of  telling  her,  of  course," 
Rennison  muttered,  dryly.  "Capital  society  realizes  that 
no  social  function  of  that  nature  is  quite  complete  without 
the  presence  of  Hayden  Storrow — when  he  is  in  town. 
At  all  events,  she  knew  you  were  to  be  there,  and  that  the 
inevitable  stick  was  going  with  you." 

Storrow  nodded.    Rennison  went  on : 

"Well,  so  far  as  you  and  that  precious  stick  of  yours 
are  concerned,  the  relationship  with  the  crime  began 
at  the  time  you  entered  Henneshaw's.  You  have  said  this 
was  between  noon  and  one  o'clock,  this  afternoon." 

"Yes." 

"You  also  told  me  that  you  left  your  companion  alone 


92  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

in  the  dining  booth  for  four  or  five  minutes,  while  you 
went  to  a  telephone,  and  that  your  cane  remained  iri 
the  booth." 

"True,  Rennison,  but  you  have  admitted  that  this  was 
at  least  two  hours  before  the  crime  was  committed." 

"Quite  right.  But  I  also  have  said  the  crime  was  care 
fully  premeditated — each  detail  having  been  carefully 
worked  out.  The  brief  period  you  were  out  of  the  booth 
gave  to  your  companion  an  opportunity  to  loosen  the 
head  of  the  cane,  draw  out  the  sword  it  contained,  hold 
the  lower  part  of  the  blade  under  her  foot — or  under 
one  of  the  legs  of  the  table,  perhaps — and  snap  it  off. 
Inasmuch  as  the  edges  of  the  blade  were  fairly  sharp, 
she  used  a  table  napkin  to  protect  her  hands.  I  have  the 
napkin,  you  see." 

Thus  speaking,  Rennison  drew  from  a  hip  pocket  of  his 
trousers  the  napkin  he  had  found  behind  the  bathtub  in 
Room  412,  in  the  Weymouthshire.  As  he  spread  it  out, 
Storrow  saw  the  parallel  cuts  in  the  fabric,  and  "Henne- 
shaw"  stamped  on  the  corner. 

"Where  did  you  get  that?"  demanded  Storrow,  breath 
lessly. 

"Within  a  hundred  feet  of  where  the  crime  was  com 
mitted,"  Rennison  replied.  "I  found  it  in  the  bathroom 
adjoining  the  room  in  which  I  found  your  sword-point — 
under  the  edge  of  a  carpet." 

"But  why ?" 

"Is  it  not  clear  to  you  now?  Her  purpose  was  to 
leave  in  the  orifice  thus  cleared  a  place  in  which  to  put 
the  sheets  of  paper  which,  in  accordance  with  her  plan, 
were  to  be  conveyed  to  her  confederate  in  your  cane." 

"You  mean ?" 

"I  mean  that  she  designed  to  meet  you  later  in  the  day 


THE  HOUR  OF  SACRIFICE  93 

— after  the  murder  should  have  been  committed — and 
slip  into  the  orifice  the  sheets  which  were  to  be  taken 
from  the  cane  by  her  confederate  at  the  Guilfords'  re 
ception." 

"Rennison !" 

Trembling  violently,  Storrow  had  risen.  The  cold  gaze 
of  the  Army  man  slowly  chilled  his  blood. 

"Inasmuch  as  I  have  taken  the  sheets  from  your  cane, 
the  purpose  has  been  defeated,"  Rennison  said,  calmly. 

Panting  heavily,  Storrow  sank  back  into  his  chair. 

"The  proof  is  positive,"  Rennison  went  on.  "Are  you 
for  our  country — or  the  woman?" 

Storrow  hid  his  face  in  his  shaking  hands. 

"Are  you  for  our  country,  or  the  woman?"  Rennison 
persisted. 

Half  rising,  the  idler  faced  his  questioner  defiantly. 

"For  both,"  he  cried.  "Miriam  Warburton  is  inno 
cent." 

"But  you  have  seen  for  yourself  the  sheets  I  took  from 
your  cane.  There  can  be  no  doubt  concerning  their  iden 
tification.  Confronted  with  such  evidence  as  this,  do  you 
still  hope  to " 

"Rennison !" 

"Involuntarily,  you  have  become  involved  in  a  serious 
crime  against  the  Government.  In  the  circumstances 
there  is  only  one  course  you  can  take  to  make  clear  your 
good  faith,  and  this  I  will  indicate  to  you.  For  the  next 
three  hours  you  must  act  in  accordance  with  my  direc 
tions.  First,  you  must  introduce  me  to  Miriam  Warbur 
ton,  and  leave  me  alone  with  her.  Second,  you  must  go 
to  the  Guilfords'  reception  and  take  your  cane  with 
you." 


94  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"There  are  no  'buts.'  Our  friendship  has  run  its 
course.  You  are  talking  now  with  a  United  States  Army 
officer  who  is  engaged  in  the  performance  of  a  duty  of  the 
most  serious  and  imperative  nature.  I  must  have  your 
decision — quickly.  Make  your  choice.  Will  you  prove 
your  loyalty  to  your  country  or  to  this  woman?  Now 
is  the  hour  of  sacrifice.  You  must  take  me  to  Miriam 
Warburton.  There  is  no  alternative." 

Rising,  Rennison  crossed  to  where  Storrow  sat  huddled 
on  his  chair. 

"You  will  take  me?"  the  Army  man  asked. 

"Yes,"  gasped  Storrow. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THE   INTERLOPER. 

PUFFING  hard  at  his  cigar,  Rennison  turned  from  his  agi 
tated  friend. 

"Call  a  taxi,"  he  directed. 

Storrow,  moving  unsteadily,  crossed  to  the  telephone  on 
the  wall.  He  called  up  a  garage  and  ordered  his  lim 
ousine. 

Meantime,  Rennison  stepped  to  the  desk  of  his  host, 
and,  opening  one  of  the  drawers  familiarly,  he  took  out 
sheets  of  paper  and  an  envelope.  He  wrote  for  several 
minutes,  then  he  thrust  one  sheet  into  the  envelope,  which 
he  sealed.  Next,  taking  a  large  envelope  from  the  drawer, 
he  placed  the  smaller  one  within  it,  with  the  remaining 
sheets.  The  large  envelope  he  addressed  to  Captain  Mer- 
schon,  Room  43X,  War  Department. 

Rennison  now  went  over  to  the  telephone  and  called  up 
Merschon,  who  responded. 

"This  is  Rennison,"  the  Army  officer  explained.  "Is 
there  anything  new,  Captain?" 

Merschon  hesitated.  Rennison  heard  him  speaking  in 
a  low  voice  to  some  one  who  was  with  him  in  the  room. 
He  was  unable  to  distinguish  the  words,  however. 

"Nothing — of  importance,"  Merschon  replied.  "We 
are  looking  to  you  for  that,  Rennison.  How  are  you 
making  out?" 

"All  right,"  Rennison  responded,  shortly. 

95 


96  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?" 

"I  mean  things  are  well  in  hand — at  my  end  of  the 
case." 

Faintly,  Rennison  heard  a  voice  addressing  Merschon. 
He  recognized  the  shaking  accents  of  Horsford. 

"Can't  you  be  a  little  more  specific?"  Merschon  asked 
over  the  wire. 

"No." 

"You  have  a  lead?" 

"Yes." 

There  was  more  muttering,  then  Merschon  spoke  again. 

"Towndrow  is  here.     Do  you  want  to  speak  with  him?" 

"Not  unless  he  has  something  of  importance  to  say  to 
me.  I'm  in  something  of  a  hurry.  I  am  sending  to  you 
by  a  messenger  a  lettertfor  Coughlin  and  one  for  yourself. 
As  soon  as  Coughlin  reports  to  you  by  phone,  tell  him  to 
drop  anything  he  may  be  doing  and  get  to  your  office  at 
once.  When  he  appears  give  him  my  letter.  It  contains 
instructions  that  are  of  the  greatest  importance  to  the 
case." 

"All  right.  Towndrow  has  nothing  of  importance  for 
you  now." 

"Good-by." 

Rennison  hung  up  the  receiver.  As  he  flashed  a  quick 
glance  at  his  host,  he  saw  Storrow  was  about  to  pick  up 
the  Malacca  cane  that  lay  on  the  table. 

"Leave  that  where  it  is,  Storrow,"  he  directed,  sharply. 

Storrow,  frowning,  drew  back. 

"Well,  Ren,  have  your  way,"  he  muttered. 

Again  Rennison  took  a  sheet  of  notepaper  from  the 
desk.  Then,  sitting  down,  he  wrote: 

Sir:  The  papers  which  were  placed  in  this  stick  for  trans 
mission  to  you  were  found  and  appropriated  by  a  representa- 


THE  INTERLOPER  97 

tive  of  the  War  Department.  It  may  interest  you  to  know  that 
in  taking  this  cane  from  the  Guilford  house  your  identification 
as  a  confederate  in  the  perpetration  of  the  murder  and  robbery 
at  the  Hotel  Weymouthshire  has  been  made  complete. 

(Signed)      GEORGE   RENNISON,  Captain,  U.S.A. 

Rennison  read  carefully  what  he  had  written,  then, 
without  referring  it  to  Storrow,  he  rolled  the  sheet  into 
a  spill,  and  bound  it  with  the  florist's  wire  he  had  taken 
from  the  sheets  he  had  found.  He  dropped  the  spill  into 
the  cane  and  returned  the  blade  to  its  sheath.  Crossing 
to  where  Storrow  stood  watching  him,  he  laid  a  hand  on 
one  of  his  shoulders. 

"Here's  your  cane,  old  man,"  he  said,  brusquely.  "You 
will  take  it  to  the  Guilfords*  and  leave  it  there,  as  other 
canes  are  left.  It  is  essential  that  there  should  be  noth 
ing  in  your  manner  to  excite  suspicion.  It  is  probable 
that  the  cane  will  shortly  afterward  disappear.  You  need 
have  no  fear,  however,  that  you  will  not  recover  it.  From 
this  moment  the  cane  and  any  person  who  may  have  it  in 
his  possession  will  be  watched  unceasingly  by  the  sharpest 
eyes  in  the  United  States.  And  God  will  not  help  the  man 
who,  in  these  circumstances,  may  attempt  to  deceive  those 
eyes,  Storrow." 

The  face  of  the  idler  flushed  wrathfully. 

"I'll  have  no  threat  from  you,  Rennison,"  he  said,  in  a 
low,  vibrant  voice.  "I'm  going  to  see  this  tiling  through, 
in  strict  accordance  with  your  directions.  But,  as  I  see 
it  through,  I  am  moving  with  the  consciousness  that  you 
are  in  error — that  the  woman  against  whom  you  have 
made  this  damnable  charge  is  as  innocent  of  intentional 
wrong-doing  as  you  and  I." 

"But  you  will  see  it  through,"  Rennison  said,  as  he 
screwed  the  head  on  the  sword-cane.  "And,  now,  let  us 


98  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

start.  First,  we  will  find  a  District  Messenger  office, 
where  I  will  get  a  boy  to  deliver  this  letter  to  Merschon. 
Then  we  will  proceed,  by  a  circuitous  route,  to  Miss  War- 
burton's,  for  I  have  a  reason  for  not  wanting  to  arrive 
at  her  apartment  within  the  next  hour.  When  we  are  done 
at  the  messenger  office,  direct  your  chauffeur  to  drive  us 
to  Georgetown  University,  and  thence  to  Mount  Pleasant. 
Tell  him  to  take  his  time  in  covering  the  distance — that 
we  are  in  no  hurry.  After  you  have  introduced  me  to  Miss 
Warburton,  you  will  leave  me  with  her.  Then  you  will 
go  to  the  Guilfords*.  You  will  be  relieved  of  your  hat 
and  cane  in  the  usual  way,  and  will  make  no  attempt  to 
get  them  back  until  half-past  eleven.  If,  at  that  time, 
you  find  your  stick  is  missing,  make  no  attempt  to  re 
cover  it.  Leave  the  house  as  quickly  as  you  can,  and 
report  to  me.  I  will  be  awaiting  you,  with  Captain  Mer 
schon,  in  Room  4-3X,  in  the  War  Department  Building." 

Storrow's  face  was  white  and  stern  as  he  picket!  up  the 
cane,  but  he  made  no  comment.  When  he  and  Rennison 
reached  the  street,  they  found  the  limousine  awaiting 
them.  In  silence  they  rode  to  the  messenger  office,  nor 
did  either  address  the  other  until,  having  traversed  the 
circuitous  route,  they  alighted  in  front  of  an  apartment 
house  on  Columbia  Heights.  As«they  entered  the  building, 
Storrow  said: 

"Though  you  and  Miss  Warburton  have  never  met,  your 
name  is  not  unknown  to  her.  From  time  to  time  she  has 
manifested  interest  in  our  relationship." 

"Indeed !"  Rennison  exclaimed,  moodily,  as  he  glanced 
sharply  at  the  uniformed  hall-boy  and  a  man  who  sat  at 
the  telephone  switchboard.  "In  that  case,  I  suppose  she 
suspects  that  I  am  such  a  person  as  you  described  this 
afternoon." 


THK  IN'TKRLOPKK  99 

"I'll  admit,  Ren,  that  she  has  reason  to  believe  that,  in 
Washington,  certain  diplomats  have  contracted  the  habit 
of  watching  you  from  the  corners  of  their  eyes." 

"I'm  sorry,"  Rennison  muttered. 

A  slowly  ascending  elevator  took  them  to  the  sixth 
floor  of  the  building. 

"Inasmuch  as  Miss  Wurburton's  suite  consists  of  only  a 
bedroom,  sitting- room  and  bath,  she  usually  lets  her  maid 
go  home  about  seven  o'clock  each  night,"  Storrow  ex 
plained,  as  they  passed  along  the  little  hall.  A  few  steps 
brought  them  to  a  door  at  which  Storrow  stopped  and 
rang  the  bell. 

For  rather  more  than  a  minute  the  visitors  waited  in 
silence.  Storrow  was  about  to  ring  again  when  they  heard 
the  soft  click  of  the  latch.  Renriisori  dropped  well  back 
of  his  companion,  and  kept  close  to  the  wall.  The  door 
was  opened  only  a  few  inches. 

"Oh,  it's  you,  Hayden!"  exclaimed  a  feminine  voice.  "I 
thought  you  were  going  to  the  Guilford  affair.  Come 
in." 

The  sound  of  the  voice  indicated  the  speaker  was  leaving 
the  door. 

"Come,  Hen,"  Storrow  said,  over'his  shoulder,  and  led 
the  way  into  a  small,  dimly  lighted  hall. 

As  Rennison  followed,  he  saw  the  woman  had  disap 
peared  through  a  dark  doorway.  The  hall  door  was 
closed  by  Storrow.  A  light  now  flashed  up  in  the  sitting- 
room. 

"I  just  let  Marta  go  home,  Hayden,  and  when  you 
rang—  '  the  unseen  woman  began.  Storrow  inter 
rupted  her.  Halting  in  the  doorway,  he  said: 

"Miriam,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  of  bringing  a  friend 
—the  only  one  to  whom  I  have  confided  our  secret.  He 


100  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

may  be  leaving  town  to-morrow,  and  it  is  probable  a  long 
period  will  elapse  before  we  meet  again.  Miss  Warbur- 
ton,  permit  me  to  introduce  to  you  Captain  Rennison." 

Not  until  his  name  was  spoken  did  the  Army  officer, 
still  in  the  entrance  hall,  come  face  to  face  with  the 
woman  in  the  sitting-room.  Passing  through  the  doorway 
now,  he  saw  her,  standing  beside  a  table  which  she  was 
touching  with  her  finger-tips.  Some  of  the  color  left  Ren- 
nison's  face  as  he  admitted  to  himself  that  rarely  had  he 
seen  a  woman  so  beautiful. 

It  was  plain  that  she  had  not  expected  the  visit  of  a 
stranger.  She  wore  a  pink  silken  kimono,  which,  parting 
a  little  above  the  ankles,  revealed  a  glimpse  of  a  pale  blue 
petticoat  and  a  pair  of  bare  feet,  thrust  into  dainty  pink 
slippers,  trimmed  with  white  fur. 

Slightly  above  medium  height,  she  now  stood  erect.  Her 
wide,  lustrous  dark  eyes  were  alight  with  surprise  and 
growing  resentment,  as  she  fastened  their  gaze  on  the 
Army  officer.  Her  exquisitely  molded  face  was  strangely 
pale,  the  pallor  being  enhanced  by  her  dark,  arched  eye 
brows  and  the  wavy  black  hair,  which,  drawn  back  from 
her  forehead,  fell  in  a  long,  thick  braid  behind  her. 

Rennison  noted  darkening  shadows  under  her  flashing 
eyes,  then  his  gaze  fell  to  her  lips  and  chin.  As  he  re 
flected  on  the  description  given  by  Johnson  of  the  chin 
and  lips  of  the  woman  who  had  introduced  herself  as  the 
wife  of  Enderbrook,  he  saw  that  the  lips  of  Miriam  War- 
burton  were  full  "and  somewhat  poutish."  Earlier  in  the 
day  they  might  have  been  red,  but  now  they  appeared  to 
be  almost  white.  He  noted,  too,  a  dimple  in  her  chin. 

As  Rennison  bowed  gravely,  Miss  Warburton,  who  ap 
peared  to  be  about  twenty-six  years  of  age,  drew  closer 
over  her  full  bosom  the  filmy  kimono  that  she  wore,  and, 


THE  INTERLOPER  101 

by  the  action,  brought  into  fuller  relief  the  charming 
lines  of  a  figure  that  had  excited  admiration  in  many  Eu 
ropean  drawing-rooms,  as  well  as  on  the  stage. 

For  several  moments,  as  Rennison  continued  to  regard 
his  hostess,  she  returned  his  gaze.  Slowly  the  surprise 
and  resentment  left  her  eyes.  He  saw  a  little  convulsive 
movement  of  the  hand  that  held  the  kimono  at  her  throat ; 
then  her  lips  parted  and  she  smiled. 

There  now  flashed  into  the  mind  of  the  young  Army 
officer  the  knowledge  that  the  nature  of  the  woman  was 
about  to  be  subordinated  to  the  art  of  the  actress. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A   PAWN    AND    THE    GAME. 

"I  REALLY  am  charmed  to  meet  you,  Captain  Rennison," 
Miss  Warburton  said,  in  a  soft,  musical  voice.  "Though, 
as  you  see,  I  was  not  prepared  to  receive  a  visitor,  you 
are  none  the  less  welcome.  I  have  known,  of  course,  that 
you  and  Hayden  have  been  intimate  friends.  It  is  very 
good  of  you  to  come  to  see  me  before  your  departure. 
Please  sit  down — here  by  the  table.  Hayden  shall  sit 
over  there — as  a  punishment  for  not  informing  me  that 
you  were  coming,  in  order  that  I  might  have  been  pre 
pared  to  receive  you." 

Approaching  Rennison,  the  young  woman  reached  for 
his  hat  and  cane. 

"Let  me  relieve  you  of  these,'*  she  said. 

But  Rennison  shook  his  head. 

"Don't  trouble,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said.  "I  have 
only  a  few  minutes  to  stay." 

As  the  actress  drew  back  she  flashed  a  glance  of  search 
ing  inquiry  at  Storrow.  She  saw  his  face  was  grim  and 
pale  and  that  he  avoided  her  gaze.  Sinking  down  on  a 
gilt  chair,  she  rested  her  elbows  on  the  table  in  the  center 
of  the  room.  On  the  other  side  of  the  table  was  a  broad, 
easy  chair  on  which,  in  accordance  with  the  invitation 
of  his  hostess,  Rennison  seated  himself.  Storrow  sat 
stiffly  on  a  large  rocker  to  which  she  had  pointed  while 
she  was  laughingly  rebuking  him  for  bringing  a  visitor 
without  warning.  Addressing  Rennison,  she  said: 

102 


A  PAWN  AND  THE  GAME  103 

"I  had  understood  you  were  going  to  leave  Washington 
this  afternoon,  and  that  Hayden  was  going  to  see  you 
off." 

"That  was  my  intention.  But,  about  an  hour  before 
train  time,  I  was  ordered  to  delay  my  departure.  A  task 
was  then  set  for  me,  and  I  may  not  be  able  to  complete  it 
before  to-morrow." 

"It  is  a  pleasant  task,  I  hope." 

"No.  It  is  one  that  is  proving  very  painful  to  me — 
one  that  may — that  must — mean  loss  of  liberty  or  life 
to  others." 

A  startled  expression  came  to  her  face,  and  she  looked 
at  him  more  intently.  Her  hands  were  toying  with  a 
bronze  paper  knife  on  the  table  against  which  she  was 
leaning. 

"Are  there  many  involved?"  she  asked. 

"Two — a  man  and  a  woman." 

"A  woman!"  she  exclaimed,  faintly.  She  raised  her 
eyes  to  his  for  a  moment,  then  they  fell  again,  as  she 
added:  "What  have  they — this  man  and  woman — done 
that  they  should  be  threatened  with  the  loss  of  liberty — 
or  life?" 

"They  have  plotted  to  rob  our  Government  of  a  secret 
which  would  protect  against  Seafalcon's  submarines  all 
vessels  of  our  merchant  marine  which  cross  the  Atlantic 
with  American  citizens — men,  women  and  children — 
aboard  of  them.  On  the  other  hand,  should  the  enemy 
obtain  that  secret  he  would  be  able  to  destroy  scores  of 
American  vessels,  without  showing  himself  on  the  surface 
of  the  sea." 

She  did  not  glance  at  him  now.  The  hand  which  had 
been  drawing  the  edges  of  the  kimono  together  at  her 
throat  was  lowered  and  began  to  finger  the  bronze  paper 


104  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

knife.  The  kimono,  falling  open  a  little,  revealed  the 
snowy  whiteness  of  the  bosom  it  had  concealed. 

The  young  woman  was  about  to  speak,  when,  from  the 
entrance  hallway,  there  came  three  faint  strokes  of  a  small 
bell.  She  listened,  hesitated,  then  rose. 

"Pardon  me,"  she  said.  "I  think  the  telephone  is  ring- 
ing." 

She  quickly  crossed  the  room  and  disappeared  in  the 
hall. 

"Storrow,"  Rennison  said,  shortly,  '^ou'd  better  be  get 
ting  to  the  Guilfords'." 

Storrow,  breathing  heavily,  looked  up  quickly.  There 
was  a  threatening  glare  in  his  bloodshot  eyes. 

"Now?"  he  queried,  thickly. 

"Yes — at  once.  I  have  told  you  how  to  proceed.  The 
game  is  moving  quickly.  The  sound  you  just  heard  in 
the  hall  indicates  that  the  message  I  sent  immediately  after 
leaving  your  rooms  has  been  received.  The  keenest  secret 
agents  of  the  Government  are  in  action.  From  this 
moment  you  will  be  under  constant  surveillance.  Do  pre 
cisely  what  you  have  been  told  to  do.  See  to  it  that  you 
make  no  mistake." 

The  idler  rose  clumsily. 

"You  are  going  to  stay — here?"  he  demanded. 

"For  several  minutes,  at  least — yes." 

Storrow  stepped  beside  the  chair  on  which  the  Army 
man  was  seated.  The  eyes  of  the  idler  still  were  blazing 
and  his  cheeks  were  shaking  as  he  looked  down  at  the 
young  officer. 

"Beware,  Rennison !"  he  said,  in  trembling  accents. 
"God  will  not  forgive  you  if 

From  the  hall  came  the  voice  of  Miriam  Warburton, 
who  was  saying,  petulantly: 


A  PAWN  AND  THE  GAME  105 

"If  you  will  not  tell  me  who  is  speaking,  I'll  ring  off 
at  once." 

All  she  had  heard  from  the  time  she  had  taken  down  the 
receiver  was  a  question  that  had  been  constantly  repeated 
in  a  rapid  monotone — "Are  you  alone — are  you  alone — 
are  you  alone?"  The  speaker  had  given  no  opportunity 
for  a  reply. 

As,  with  a  little  exclamation  of  disgust,  the  young 
woman  returned  the  receiver  to  the  hook,  Storrow  entered 
the  dimly-lighted  hallway. 

"You  are  going,  Hayden?"  Miriam  asked,  in  accents  of 
surprise. 

"Yes — to  the  reception.  I  may  call  you  up  from 
there." 

Seizing  one  of  her  hands,  Storrow  raised  it  to  his 
lips.  Then  he  abruptly  opened  the  door  and  passed  out. 
Bewildered  by  the  suddenness  and  strangeness  of  her 
friend's  departure,  Miriam  allowed  several  moments  to 
pass  before  it  occurred  to  her  to  call  him  back.  At 
length,  however,  she  opened  the  door  and  looked  out. 
Storrow  just  had  entered  the  elevator.  He  waved  a  hand 
to  her,  and  the  elevator  began  its  descent. 

As  the  young  woman  turned  back  to  the  sitting-room 
there  suddenly  flashed  into  her  mind  a  premonition  of 
danger. 

Passing  through  the  doorway,  Miriam  saw  Rennison 
had  risen  and  was  standing  beside  the  table.  He  now  was 
toying  with  the  bronze  paper  knife  which  had  been  in 
her  hands  only  a  few  minutes  before. 

"Why  did  Hayden  leave  like  that?"  she  demanded,  half- 
curiously,  half-angrily. 

"He  suddenly  remembered  an  appointment  which  it  was 
necessary  for  him  to  keep  before  going  to  the  reception." 


106  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"He  is  not  going  directly  to  the  reception,  then?"  And 
Rennison  fancied  he  detected  a  new  note  of  anxiety  in 
her  tone. 

*'He  expects  to  be  there  in  a  few  minutes,"  Rennison 
assured  her. 

The  features  of  Miriam  darkened. 

"Won't  you  sit  down?"  she  asked,  coldly. 

Rennison  bowed,  and  again  sank  on  the  big  chair  near 
the  table.  Miriam  reseated  herself  on  the  gilt  chair. 
There  was  a  pause,  then  she  said: 

"You  were  telling  me  of  the  man  and  the  woman  who 
plotted  to  rob  the  Government  of  a  great  secret.  Were 
they  successful?" 

"Yes,"  Rennison  replied. 

Miriam's  elbows  were  on  the  table.  Her  chin  was  rest- 
ting  on  her  crossed  hands.  Her  dark  eyes  were  looking 
at  him  steadily. 

"How  did  they  attain  their  purpose?"  the  young  woman 
asked. 

"By  leading  the  inventor  into  a  trap,  murdering  him 
and  taking  from  his  body  the  precious  secret  on  which, 
for  many  days  and  nights  he  had  been  working,  in  the 
service  of  his  country." 

"Murdered!"  exclaimed  Miriam,  faintly.  "The  inven 
tor  was  murdered,  do  you  say?" 

"Yes — by  the  woman." 

Miriam  was  looking  at  Rennison  intently.  One  of  her 
hands  was  gathering  the  kimono  folds  at  her  throat. 

"Where?"  she  demanded,  almost  breathlessly. 

"Just  outside  the  door  of  a  room  in  the  Hotel  Wey- 
mouthshire — this  afternoon." 

In  the  hallway  the  telephone  bell  was  ringing  viciously. 
Miriam  rose  quickly  and  hurried  from  the  room.  When 


A  PAWN  AND  THE  GAME  107 

she  reached  the  telephone,  she  took  down  the  receiver 
and  held  it  to  her  ear.  Again  she  heard  a  rapid  mono 
tone,  as  if  a  schoolboy  were  trying  to  commit  certain  sen 
tences  to  memory.  Now,  however,  the  words  were  differ 
ent — "I  want  to  talk  with  Mrs.  Enderbrook — I  want  to 
talk  with  Mrs.  Enderbrook — I  want  to  talk  with " 

"There  is  no  one  of  that  name  here,"  replied  Miriam, 
sharply.  "Now  stop  it.  Let  this  phone  alone." 

For  several  moments  the  voice  at  the  other  end  of  the 
wire  was  still.  Then  it  began  again: — 

"I  want  to  talk  with  Mrs.  Enderbrook — I  want  to 
talk  with  Mrs.  Enderbrook — Oh,  I  want  to  talk  with 
Mrs.  Ender " 

Miriam  snapped  the  receiver  back  on  its  hook.  As  she 
turned  from  the  instrument,  she  swayed  slightly  and 
pressed  her  clenched  hands  to  her  cheeks. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE    UNKNOWN    VOICE. 

WHEN  Miriam  Warburton  returned  to  the  room  in  which 
she  had  left  Captain  Rennison,  her  manner  was  composed 
and  there  was  a  smile  on  her  wan  lips. 

"I'm  very  sorry  to  have  interrupted  you,  Captain," 
she  said.  "The  telephone  wires  seem  to  be  crossed,  and 
there  is  some  foolish  fellow  speaking — one  who  seems  to 
be  talking  in  his  sleep." 

"Pray,  don't  mention  it,  Miss  Warburton,"  Rennison 
replied. 

Again  the  young  woman  was  seated  at  the  table — her 
chin  resting  on  her  clasped  hands. 

"You  were  speaking  of  the  inventor  of  that  great 
secret,"  she  suggested.  "Was  he  well  known — I  mean 
was  his  name  one  would  be  likely  to  hear  often?" 

"No.  He  was  a  modest  college  professor,  who,  however, 
had  ample  means  of  his  own.  The  secret  device  on  which 
he  had  been  at  work  was  designed  as  a  gift  to  the  Gov 
ernment." 

"A  gift,"  she  murmured. 

"Yes.     His  name  was  Channing." 

"Did  he  live  in  Washington?" 

"No.  He  came  to  this  city  to  deliver  the  formula  of 
his  device  to  an  official  of  the  Navy  Department." 

The  young  woman  was  looking  at  her  visitor  with  a  new 
intensity.  The  gaze  of  her  dark  eyes  did  not  shift  from 
his  face. 

108 


THE  UNKNOWN  VOICE  109 

"In  what  manner  was  he  killed?'*  she  asked. 

"By  the  injection  of  some  poison  of  great  virulence 
into  the  fingers  of  his  right  hand.  So  deadly  was  this 
fluid  that  it  caused  almost  instant  death.'* 

"Oh  !"  she  gasped  faintly. 

The  telephone  bell  was  ringing  again  in  the  hallway. 
The  young  woman  rose  weakly. 

"You  must  excuse  me  again,"  she  muttered.  As  she 
disappeared  in  the  hall,  Rennison  heard  her  murmur: 
"Oh,  my  God." 

The  young  officer  rose  quickly  and  followed  her.  He 
halted,  however,  at  the  threshold  of  the  door.  He  saw  his 
companion  had  reached  the  telephone  and  was  taking  down 
the  receiver. 

"Well?"  queried  Miriam  through  the  transmitter. 

A  thrill  passed  through  her  as  she  heard  the  same 
quickly  speaking,  monotonous  voice  she  had  heard  before. 
Now  it  was  saying: 

"Give  me  the  life  you  took  from  Room  415 — give  me 
the  life  you  took  from  Room  415 — give  me  the  life  you 
took " 

With  a  little  cry,  Miriam  drew  back. 

"Is  that  fellow  troubling  you  again,  Miss  Warbur- 
ton?"  Rennison  asked,  solicitously. 

"Yes — no — no  !"  she  answered,  wildly. 

"Perhaps  if  I  were  to  speak  to  him " 

She  whirled  quickly.  Fear  and  horror  were  in  her  eyes 
as  she  faced  him  and  held  the  receiver  behind  her. 

"No — no — it  is  quite  unnecessary,"  she  gasped. 

"Very  well,"  replied  Rennison,  with  a  little  shrug.  "As 
you  have  said,  the  wires  may  be  crossed.  It  is  possible, 
too,  that  the  voice  of  the  fellow  you  have  heard  is  that  of 
a  company  employe  who  is  testing  them." 


110  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"True,"  she  faltered.    "I  had  not  thought  of  that." 

Rennison  strode  slowly  into  the  sitting-room.  When 
Miriam  passed  through  the  door,  she  saw  he  was  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  with  his  hands  in  the  pockets 
of  his  coat.  Just  inside  the  doorway  she  halted,  and 
grasped  one  of  the  portieres. 

Looking  at  him  intently,  she  asked. 

"Why  did  you  not  go  with  Hayden?" 

There  was  a  new  note  in  her  voice — a  note  that  was  at 
once  quavering  and  harsh.  Rennison's  gaze  fell  to  the 
floor. 

"Why — well,  to  be  frank  with  you,  Miss  Warburton,  I 
hardly  know,"  he  faltered,  apologetically.  "I  should  have 
remembered  that  Hayden  told  me  you  had  a  severe  head 
ache  this  afternoon.  It  was  thoughtless  of  me  to  remain, 
I'll  admit.  In  the  circumstances,  perhaps 

He  moved  toward  the  chair  on  which  lay  his  hat  and 
cane.  Swaying  a  little,  Miriam  moved  toward  the  table. 

"Don't  go — please,"  she  said,  wearily.  *'I  did  not 
mean  to  suggest  that  you  leave  me.  But  Hayden  went 
out  so  suddenly — leaving  you  here  alone — with  me.  If 
you  and  I  had  met  before,  I  would  have  thought  nothing 
of  it,  perhaps — but — well,  the  fancy  just  struck  me  that 
it  was  a  little  strange  that  you  should  be  here.  That  is 
all." 

Rennison  picked  up  his  hat   and  stick. 

"Please  stay — a  little  while,"  Miriam  pleaded,  weakly, 
as  she  sank  on  the  gilt  chair  again.  "Something  very 
terrible  seems  about  to  happen  to  me  to-night,  but  I  can 
not  tell  what  it  is.  Oh,  why  did  Hayden  leave  me?  I 
must  not  be  left  alone." 

Rennison  hesitated,  then  tossed  his  hat  and  cane  to  a 
couch. 


THE  UNKNOWN  VOICE  111 

"Perhaps  my  story  of  the  murder  of  young  Channing 
has  depressed  you,"  he  said.  "I'm  sorry  if " 

"You  must  tell  me  more,"  the  young  woman  replied,  as 
she  glanced  at  a  little  onyx  clock  on  the  mantel.  "Sit 
down,  please,  Captain  Rennison." 

Rennison,  seating  himself,  regarded  his  companion 
speculatively.  She  was  gazing  at  the  table.  Her  fingers 
were  toying  nervously  with  the  paper  knife  again. 

"What  more  is  there  concerning  this  unfortunate  affair 
that  you  would  have  me  tell  you?"  he  asked,  quietly. 

"Who  was  Channing  to  have  seen  at  the  Navy  Depart 
ment?"  Miriam  asked  him. 

"Mr.  Horsford — one  of  the  Assistant  Secretaries." 

"He — Mr.  Channing — was  not  under  any  sort  of  sus 
picion?" 

"None  whatever.  His  death  was  one  of  the  most  severe 
— if  not  the  severest — blow  that  has  been  inflicted  on  the 
Department  for  many  years." 

Rising  slowly,  Miriam  gripped  the  edge  of  the  table  in 
front  of  her. 

"This  Channing  was  not  a  traitor,  then — a  Seafalcon 
spy?"  she  demanded,  brokenly. 

Looking  at  her  steadily,  Rennison  held  her  gaze. 

"Oh,  no,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  replied,  with  a  smile. 
"You  surely  know  he  was  not  that." 

Something  in  Rennison's  gaze,  as  well  as  in  his  tone 
and  words,  kindled  the  light  of  a  new  fear  in  her  widening 
eyes. 

"I  know  he  was  not  that!"  she  repeated  wonderingly. 
Then,  with  a  sudden  change  from  weakness  to  defiant 
anger,  she  stamped  a  foot  and  cried:  "Captain  Rennison, 
you  lie!" 

The  smile  seemed  to  freeze  on  the  face  of  the  Army 


112 

officer,  as,  with  a  vibrant  voice,  the  young  woman  went 
on: 

"You  lie!     He  was  a  Seafalcon  spy — as  you  are." 

Rennison,  sinking  slowly  back  on  his  chair,  was  think 
ing  quickly.  In  a  flash  the  whole  aspect  of  the  situation 
had  changed.  The  woman  was  a  professional  actress,  but 
was  she  only  acting  now?  Like  most  trained  thinkers, 
this  young  Army  officer  was  averse  to  rejecting  new  im 
pressions  quickly.  That  Miriam  Warburton  had  slain 
Oliver  Channing  for  the  purpose  of  taking  from  his  body 
the  secret  of  his  invention  Rennison  did  not  doubt.  But 
what  possibly  could  have  suggested  to  her  the  idea  of 
branding  her  victim  as  a  Seafalcon  spy?  Channing, 
the  inventor  of  the  device,  was  on  his  way  to  the  Navy 
Department  to  give  the  secret  of  his  invention  to  the  Gov 
ernment.  Miriam  Warburton  must  have  known  that  no 
spy  would  do  a  thing  like  that. 

But,  quickly  as  he  thought,  Rennison  did  not  allow  his 
thoughts  to  become  confused.  In  a  few  moments  he  had 
shaped  a  course. 

"Come,  come,  Miss  Warburton,  is  it  not  time  that  both 
of  us  were  dropping  our  masks?"  he  said,  chidingly. 
"Channing  was  not  a  spy,  of  course.  I  shall  not  attempt, 
however,  to  deceive  you  concerning  my  relation  with  the 
affair.  But  if  we  are  to  work  together  hereafter  in  the 
interest  of  the  great  Brotherhood  and  its  chief,  let  us  not 
begin  our  relationship,  as  their  agents,  by  pretending 
that  each  of  us  does  not  know  the  purpose  of  the  other." 

Miriam  seemed  dazed.  Rennison,  watching  her  closely, 
saw  her  throat  and  temples  throbbing. 

"I — an  agent — of  Seafalcon's  !"  she  gasped.  "Oh,  you 
wretched,  cowardly  traitor!  Do  you  not  know  that  I 
know  why  it  is  you  are  here?  You,  taking  advantage 


THE  UNKNOWN  VOICE  113 

of  the  trust  imposed  in  you  by  the  Government,  and  util 
izing  your  position  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelli 
gence,  have  learned  how  the  spy,  Channing,  lost  the  papers 
he  had  stolen  and  was  about  to  give  to  one  who  was  to 
deliver  them  to  Seafalcon.  You  have  traced  them  here, 
and  have  induced  that  prince  of  fools,  Hayden  Storrow,  to 
introduce  you  to  me.  Well,  you  are  here.  Now,  search 
— search  every  nook  and  cranny  of  my  apartments  for  the 
papers  you  are  seeking.  You  are  clever,  I  am  told.  Men 
and  women  have  died  at  your  bidding — as  I  may  die.  The 
Government  still  may  trust  you,  but  when  you  are  done 
here,  if  I  still  am  alive,  I — 

Rennison,  now  sitting  upright,  with  his  elbows  on  the 
arms  of  his  chair,  spoke  quietly. 

"Stop  it,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said.  "Have  I  not  told 
you  that  each  of  us  must  trust  the  other?  If  I  did  not 
know  you  to  be  an  agent  of  Seafalcon's  would  I  have  been 
following  you  all  this  afternoon  for  the  purpose  of  afford 
ing  you  protection?  If  you  were  not  a  Seafalcon  agent, 
would  you  have  slain  that  young  inventor?  Would  you 
have  placed  the  stolen  papers  in  Storrow's  stick  for 
transmission  to  the  man  who  will  be  at  the  Guilfords' 
reception  to  receive  them?  Oh,  no,  my  dear  Miss  Warbur 
ton,  you  know  very  well  that  I  am  not  here  to  search 
your  apartments  for  the  papers  which  went  out  of  here 
with  Storrow." 

"You — you  know  that?'*  Miriam  faltered. 

"Of  course,"  Rennison  answered,  easily.  He  looked  at 
his  watch,  then  added:  "In  a  few  minutes  the  papers 
should  be  in  the  right  hands,  my  dear.'* 

Miriam  sank  slowly  to  her  chair.  It  was  plain  to  Ren 
nison  that  she  was  striving  desperately  to  regain  self- 
control. 


114  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"You — you  would  have  me  understand,  then,  that  Cap 
tain  Reifsnyder 

She  stopped  abruptly. 

The  name  of  her  confederate  had  slipped  quickly  from 
her  lips.  But  the  features  of  Rennison  expressed  neither 
satisfaction  nor  surprise. 

"It  was  only  natural  that  Reifsnyder  should  be 
anxious,  of  course,"  he  said.  "He  did  not  doubt  that  you 
would  carry  out  your  mission  successfully,  but  it  was  for 
tunate  that  I  kept  after  you — to  cover  your  trail.'* 

"Indeed!"  Miriam  murmured. 

"Yes.  After  drawing  the  body  of  young  Channing 
into  his  room,  you  locked  the  door  without  closing  it. 
Then,  too,  you  left  in  your  own  room  in  the  hotel  the  point 
of  Storrow's  sword  blade,  and — this — 

He  tossed  on  the  table  the  "Henneshaw"  napkin. 

Miriam,  who  had  been  nervously  moving  the  table 
drawer  in  and  out,  looked  at  the  napkin  dully.  Her  glance 
wandered  to  the  little  onyx  clock  again. 

"I'm  sorry  I  blundered  so,"  she  murmured  penitently. 

"But,  inasmuch  as  I  found  the  articles,  the  oversights 
will  not  matter,"  Rennison  assured  her. 

"I  am  very  glad." 

She  reached  for  the  napkin,  examined  it  thoughtfully, 
then  dropped  it  into  the  open  drawer  of  the  table. 

"I  used  it  to  protect  my  hands  from  the  blade,"  she  ex 
plained. 

"The  cuts  in  the  fabric  indicated  it  had  served  that 
purpose,"  replied  Rennison. 

"You  are  clever,"  she  said,  absently. 

"But  you  will  let  me  have  the  napkin?"  he  asked.  "It  is 
best,  of  course,  that  it  should  not  be  found  here." 

"Of  course,"  she  assented. 


THE  UNKNOWN  VOICE  115 

As  she  drew  the  drawer  out  a  little  further,  she  rose. 
Picking  up  the  napkin,  she  held  it  to  him  across  the 
table. 

"Take  it,"  she  said. 

Her  eyes  flashed  at  him  defiantly,  as  grasping  the 
crumpled  napkin,  she  held  it  above  his  extended  hand,  then 
brought  it  down  sharply. 

With  a  swift  movement,  Rennison's  hand  eluded  hers ; 
then  caught  her  wrist.  From  the  napkin  something  fell 
noiselessly  to  the  lace  cover  of  the  table — something 
pink  and  white  and  green — a  little  tea-rose  bud,  with 
closely  folded  petals  and  without  a  stem.  But,  noise 
lessly  as  it  fell,  Rennison  saw  it. 

Still  grasping  Miriam's  wrist,  Rennison  raised  his  gaze 
to  a  pair  of  eyes,  which,  though  flashing  defiantly  only  a 
moment  before,  now  were  wide  with  growing  fear. 

"One  hand  already  has  plucked  that  little  flower  of  im 
mortality  to-day,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said,  quietly. 
"There  shall  be  no  other." 

The  table  was  between  them  as  she  tried  to  free  her 
hand.  In  a  few  moments  her  feeble  efforts  ceased. 

"You  are  wrong,  Captain  Rennison,"  she  answered. 
"There  shall  be  one  other." 

Then  he  saw  that  her  free  left  hand  lay,  slightly  arched, 
over  the  death  flower  on  the  table. 

"Stand  back,"  she  said. 

Though  quietly,  tensely  spoken,  the  words  were  man 
datory. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A    FUGITIVE   SHADOW. 

RENNISON  knew  what  the  woman,  whose  right  wrist  he 
still  was  grasping,  had  it  in  her  mind  to  do.  She  had  only 
to  flatten  her  arched  left  hand  on  the  table,  and  he  would 
hear  her  voice  no  more. 

For  only  a  moment  did  he  hesitate;  then  he  freed  her 
and  stepped  back. 

"Why  did  you  try  to  kill  me,  Miss  Warburton,"  he 
asked. 

"Because  you  are  an  agent  of  Seafalcon's — because 
you  have  made  me  believe  that  Captain  Reifsnyder,  whom  I 
trusted  before,  is  one  of  your  confederates — because " 

"You  are  convinced,  then,  that  Reifsnyder  and  I  are 
Seafalcon  agents?" 

"If  you  were  not  confederates,  the  knowledge  that  Hay- 
den  Storrow  has  those  papers  in  his  cane  would  not  be 
possessed  by  both  of  you.  Captain  Reifsnyder  told  me 
that,  despite  the  trust  imposed  in  you  by  the  Govern 
ment,  you  were  known  to  him — and  others — as  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  lieutenants  of  Seafalcon.  You  have  ad 
mitted  to  me  that  you  are,  and  you  have  told  me  that 
Reifsnyder  is  in  league  with  you.  You  even  profess  to 
believe  that  I,  too,  am  a  traitor — that  I  have  killed  an 
innocent  man,  in  order  to  rob  him  of  a  secret  that  was 
essential  to  the  success  of  the  Government's  war  on  the 

Brotherhood.      You " 

116 


A  FUGITIVE  SHADOW  117 

She  stopped.  The  telephone  in  the  hall  was  ringing. 
She  listened  for  a  moment,  then  added,  weakly: 

"Yes,  I  tried  to  kill  you.  Because  I  failed,  I  must  die. 
I  tried  to  take  your  life  in  order  that  I  might  prevent 
what  is  in  Hayden  Storrow's  cane  from  reaching  Captain 
Reifsnyder." 

Her  eyes  again  revealed  to  Rennison  the  impulse  that 
was  dominating  her.  He  dared  not  look  at  the  hand  she 
held  above  the  little  artificial  flower.  Then  an  inspiration 
came  to  him. 

"It  is  not  unlikely  that  the  person  now  calling  you 
to  the  telephone  is  Storrow,"  he  said.  "When  he  left  me 
I  half  suspected  that  it  would  not  be  long  before " 

"Will  you  see?"  Miriam  asked. 

Rennison  nodded. 

"Certainly,"  he  replied. 

The  Army  officer  had  taken  only  a  couple  of  steps  in 
the  direction  of  the  door,  however,  when  a  sound  behind 
him  caused  him  to  halt  abruptly.  It  was  the  sound  made 
by  the  quick  drawing  out  of  a  table  drawer. 

As  he  stopped,  he  turned  slowly.  Then  he  saw  every 
trace  of  emotion  had  left  Miriam's  face.  She  was  looking 
at  him  over  the  dark  barrel  of  an  automatic  pistol. 

"I  will  answer  the  telephone  call,  but  you  will  go  into 
the  hall  with  me,"  the  young  woman  said,  coolly,  "Lead 
the  way,  please." 

Bowing   slightly,   Rennison   answered,   gravely: 

"I  am  entirely  at  your  service,  Miss  Warburton.  I  will 
lead  the  way  to  the  hall." 

"Throw  back  both  portieres  and  step  into  the  right- 
hand  corner,"  the  actress  directed. 

Moving  deliberately,  Rennison  carried  out  his  instruc 
tions.  Miriam,  with  her  pistol  still  pointed  at  him,  fol- 


118  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

lowed  closely.  When  he  reached  the  corner,  Rennison 
turned. 

"Put  these  on  your  wrists,"  commanded  Miriam,  who 
held  toward  him  a  pair  of  handcuffs. 

Smilingly,  he  did  so.  She  snapped,  then  tested  each 
bracelet  in  turn.  Both  were  fast. 

There  was  a  little  note  of  exultation  in  her  voice  as  she 
said: 

"Now  you  will  do  just  what  I  tell  you  to  do." 

"Yes,"  he  answered.  "I  have  assured  you  that  I  am 
entirely  at  your  service." 

The  telephone  bell  still  was  ringing.  She  stepped 
quickly  toward  the  instrument  and  took  down  the  re 
ceiver.  As  she  placed  it  to  one  of  her  ears,  she  heard: 

"Give  me  back  the  life  you  took  from  Room  415.  Give 
me  back — 

An  expression  of  helplessness  came  to  her  features  as 
she  lowered  the  receiver. 

"If  that  fellow  is  bothering  you  again,  Miss  Warbur- 
ton,  it  is  possible  that  I  may  silence  him,"  Rennison  said, 
quietly.  "Shall  I  try?" 

The  actress  looked  at  him  searchingly,  but  did  not 
speak. 

"If  you  want  to  talk  with  Hayden  Storrow  over  that 
wire,  I  can  get  him  for  you,"  Rennison  added. 

"I  do  want  to  talk  with  Hayden  Storrow,"  Miriam 
replied,  and  her  voice  was  shaking  now.  "You  have  said 
you  can  put  me  in  communication  with  him.  You  must." 

Again  the  dark  barrel  of  the  pistol  was  aimed  at  him 
menacingly.  He  moved  toward  her,  and,  with  his  man 
acled  hands,  took  the  receiver  she  held  toward  him.  He 
held  it  to  his  left  ear.  A  voice  was  speaking.  It  said: 

"Give  me  back  the  life  you  took  from " 


A  FUGITIVE  SHADOW  119 

"Glendennen?"  Rennison  queried. 

"Give  me —  -  What  was  that  you  said?"  the  voice  on 
the  wire  asked. 

"Glendennen,"  Rennison  repeated. 

"All  right,"  replied  the  voice. 

Stepping  back  from  the  transmitter,  the  Army  officer 
addressed  his  companion. 

"We  may  be  delayed  a  minute  or  two,"  he  explained. 

"Who  is  Glendennen?"  the  actress  asked,  suspiciously. 

"A  friend  of  mine,"  Rennison  answered.  "Before  we 
can  get  the  Guilf ord  house  it  will  be  necessary  to  free  your 
wire." 

"To  free  the  wire?"  Miriam  repeated,  wonderingly. 

"Yes.  You  see  since  I  have  been  in  here  the  wire  that 
runs  into  this  hallway  has  been  what  is  technically  known 
as  'set.'  It  has  communicated  only  with  a  switchboard  in 
the  War  Department  building.  During  this  period  a 
Government  man  has  been  in  charge  of  the  switchboard  of 
this  apartment  house.  He " 

Rennison,  with  the  receiver  still  at  his  ear,  turned  to 
the  transmitter  again  and  spoke  into  it. 

"Jimmy,"  he  said. 

"Yes,  sir,"  answered  the  voice. 

"Connect  me  with  Captain  Merschon." 

"Stop !"  Miriam  directed,  sharply.  "You  are  at  this 
telephone  to  get  me  into  communication  with  Hayden  Stor- 
row.  Until  then — 

"Such  communication  will  be  impossible  until  the  wire 
is  freed,"  Rennison  retorted.  "Captain  Merschon  is  one 
of  the  officials  of  the  Bureau  of  Naval  Intelligence." 

The  eyes  of  Miriam  Warburton  flashed  scornfully. 

"Another  Seafalcon  spy,  in  a  United  States  uniform?" 
she  asked. 


120  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"No,"  Rennison  replied.  "Merschon's  loyalty  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  is  as  unblemished  as  my 
own." 

Miriam,  who  had  raised  her  pistol  menacingly,  lowered 
it  a  little.  She  was  looking  at  him  with  an  expression  in 
which  contempt,  bewilderment  and  solemn  warning  were 
mingled.  The  finger  on  the  pistol's  trigger  was  trembling. 

"Loyalty  as  unblemished  as  your  own!"  she  exclaimed. 
"Have  you  not  confessed  to  me  that  you  are  an  adherent 
of  Seafalcon's?" 

"You  charged  me  with  being  a  Seafalcon  spy,  and  I 
humored  your  apparent  belief — in  order  that  I  might 
learn  whether  in  committing  that  crime  this  afternoon 
you  knew  yourself  to  be  an  enemy  of  our  Government,  or 
whether,  as  you  have  said,  you  actually  believed  you  were 
taking  the  life  of  a  Seafalcon  spy.  It  also  was  my  pur 
pose  to  get  you  to  reveal  the  name  of  your  confederate 
— the  man  who  was  to  take  those  papers  from  Storrow's 
cane." 

"Did  you  not  know —  —  ?"  Miriam  began,  breathlessly. 

•'That  Reifsnyder  was  the  man?"  he  asked.  "No,  I 
did  not  know — until  you  told  me." 

"But " 

Glancing  beyond  where  she  stood,  Rennison  saw  the 
door  communicating  with  the  outer  hall  opening  slowly 
and  noiselessly.  At  that  moment  a  voice  sounded  in  the 
receiver  he  was  holding  to  his  ear. 

"Hello!"  it  said. 

Rennison  turned  quickly  to  the  transmitter. 

"Merschon?"  he  asked. 

"Yes." 

"Rennison  is  speaking." 


A  FUGITIVE  SHADOW 

"How  are  you  making  out?"  Merschon  asked. 

"Moving  right  along,  but  I  have  nothing  to  report  at 
present.  I'll  see  you  about  midnight.  Meantime,  with 
the  exception  of  those  that  have  to  do  with  Coughlin,  all 
suggestions  I  made  to  you  in  the  note  I  sent  this  evening 
are  off.  Do  you  understand?  All  off  except  the  sugges 
tions  concerning  the  Coughlin  end  of  it." 

"But  the  woman — Mrs.  Enderbrook!  Have  you  come 
up  with  her?" 

"There  was  a  pause,  then  Rennison  said : 

"There  is  no  longer  a  woman  in  the  case.  There  is  no 
Mrs.  Enderbrook." 

"All  right,"  Merschon  answered,  moodily. 

With  his  handcuffed  hands,  Rennison  returned  the  re 
ceiver  to  its  hook.  As  he  turned  again  toward  Miriam, 
he  saw  she  was  trembling.  Once  more  the  menace  was  in 
her  flashing  eyes. 

"Just  as  I  was  beginning  to  believe  you,  you  have 
proved  yourself  to  be  as  false  as  I  had  suspected  you 
were,"  she  said  in  low,  shaking  accents  which  indicated  the 
strength  of  her  emotion.  "If  Captain  Merschon  is  loyal, 
why  did  you  tell  him  there  was  no  woman  in  the  case? 
Why  did  you  lie  to  him  ?  You  know  a  woman  killed  Chan- 
ning.  You  know  a  woman  has  sent  those  papers  to  a  man 
who,  as  you  have  convinced  me,  is  a  traitor.  If  you  are 
loyal,  why  have  you  not  arrested  me?  Why  have  you 
made  no  move  to  prevent  those  papers  from  reaching 
Reifsnyder?" 

While  she  was  speaking  Rennison's  gaze,  shifting 
slightly,  rested  momentarily  on  a  gray-clad,  stockily 
built  man  who,  having  entered  a  moment  after  the  door  of 
the  hall  had  been  opened  so  noiselessly,  now  stood  only  a 


122  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

couple  of  paces  behind  the  agitated  actress.  He  had 
closed  the  door  as  quietly  as  he  had  opened  it,  but  had 
not  removed  the  Panama  hat  which  shaded  his  eyes. 

Rennison,  smiling,  said: 

"Does  it  not  occur  to  you,  my  dear  Miss  Warburton 
that  if  I  failed  to  do  the  things  you  have  suggested  it 
might  be  because  a  woman  has  me  at  her  mercy?" 

"She  has  no  mercy — you  traitor,  or  you  coward,"  Mir 
iam  answered,  as  she  slowly  raised  the  black-barreled 
pistol.  "When  I  took  a  man's  life  this  afternoon,  I  was 
stumbling  in  the  dark.  But  now  my  course  is  clear. 
Those  papers  must  not  reach  Reifsnyder.  I  must  get 
them,  myself.  The  telephone  is  closed  to  me.  If  I  were  to 
leave  you  here  alone  you  would  contrive  to  prevent  me 
from  doing  what  I  must  do.  There  is  only  one  thing  for 
me  to  do,  and  I — 

The  hand  that  raised  the  pistol  was  trembling,  but  the 
light  of  desperate  determination  was  in  her  eyes. 

Behind  her  the  gray-clad  man  moved  quickly  and  noise 
lessly.  One  of  his  strong  hands  gripped  her  wrist ;  the 
other  snatched  the  pistol  from  her  grasp. 

Rennison  stepped  briskly  to  the  doorway  communicat 
ing  with  the  living-room.  In  this  he  halted. 

"Unlock  these  bracelets,  Joe,"  he  directed. 

Miriam,  grasping  the  high  back  of  one  of  the  hall 
chairs,  was  swaying  and  seemed  about  to  fall.  Rennison, 
watching  her  gravely,  held  out  his  manacled  hands  to  the 
man  he  had  just  addressed.  The  man  slipped  Miriam's 
pistol  into  one  of  his  pockets,  and  drew  out  a  bunch  of 
keys. 

In  a  few  moments  the  handcuffs  were  off  Rennison's 
wrists. 

"That's  all,  Joe,"  Rennison  said.     "You  needn't  wait. 


A  FUGITIVE  SHADOW 

I  think  the  lady  and  I  will  get  on  very  well  together  now. 
I  may  see  you  as  I  go  out,  however.'* 

The  gray-clad  man  nodded ;  then  left  the  room,  closing 
the  hall  door  behind  him. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

TEUE  COLORS. 

As  Miriam,  with  bowed  head,  leaned  against  the  back  of 
the  chair  which  supported  her,  the  kimono  seemed  about 
to  fall  from  her  white  shoulders.  She  trembled,  and 
Rennison  heard  her  sobbing  faintly. 

"Come,  Miss  Warburton,  it  is  time  you  were  seeing  the 
situation  a  little  more  clearly,"  he  said  kindly.  "Both 
of  us  have  had  mistaken  views,  for  each  of  us  has  be 
lieved  that  the  other  has  been  in  the  service  of  Seafalcon. 
Despite  the  fact  that  I  know  you  took  the  life  of  Oliver 
Channing,  I  am  convinced  that,  before  you  did  so,  his 
character  and  the  nature  of  his  mission  to  Washington 
had  been  misrepresented  to  you.  There  is  much  that  is 
not  clear  to  me,  but,  before  I  ask  you  for  further  enlight 
enment,  I  want  to  feel  that  you  are  satisfied  of  my  loyalty 
to  the  Government  of  the  United  States.  In  what  man 
ner  do  you  require  me  to  convince  you  of  this  ?" 

Slowly,  the  actress  raised  her  head  and  gazed  at  him 
searchingly  with  an  expression  in  which  fear,  bewilder 
ment,  doubt  and  appeal  were  mingled. 

"How  am  I  to  know  what  to  believe  of  you?"  she  fal 
tered.  "If  Reifsnyder,  who  wears  the  uniform  of  an 
officer  of  your  Navy,  is  indeed  a  traitor,  why  will  not 
you,  if  you  are  loyal,  aid  me  in  preventing  those  papers 
from  getting  into  his  hands?" 

124 


TRUE  COLORS  125 

"Does  it  not  occur  to  you,  my  dear  Miss  Warburton, 
that,  if  I  were  loyal,  I  would  not  have  permitted  that  fate 
ful  cane  to  get  out  of  my  sight  so  long  as  I  knew  those 
papers  were  in  it?" 

"Oh !"  gasped  the  half-fainting  woman.  "True — I  had 
not  thought  of  that.  You  have  them — the  papers — now  ?" 

"Yes." 

"And  you — you  will  let  me  see  them — that  I  may- 
know "  she  besought  him  eagerly. 

"That  you  may  know  I  am  not  attempting  to  deceive 
you  again?"  he  asked,  smiling  gravely.  "Yes,  I  will 
show  them  to  you — subject  to  one  condition.  But  come. 
Why  are  we  standing  here?  Let  us  return  to  the  sitting- 
room." 

Drawing  aside  one  of  the  portieres,  he  stepped  back  to 
let  her  pass.  As  she  moved  through  the  doorway,  Renni- 
son  took  one  of  her  hands.  Just  inside  the  sitting-room 
they  halted.  Looking,  half-fearfully  at  her  companion, 
Miriam  asked: 

"What  is  the  condition?" 

"It  is  the  payment  of  a  price." 

"A  price !"  she  murmured.  "To  be  satisfied  that  all  you 
are  telling  me  now  is  true  I  would  give  my  soul." 

"That  is  far  too  precious,"  Rennison  said,  kindly. 
"And  yet  what  I  will  ask  is  something  which  is  suggestive 
of  the  soul — something  to  which,  a  few  minutes  ago,  I 
referred  as  the  'flower  of  immortality.' ' 

She  gave  a  little  start  and  shuddered.  Slowly  her 
gaze  wandered  to  where,  on  the  lace  cover  of  the  table,  lay 
the  little  artificial  rosebud.  Around  it  was  a  faint  brown 
stain. 

"You  must  not  touch  it,"  she  warned  him  in  a  voice 
that  was  scarcely  louder  than  a  whisper.  "Wait." 


126  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

But  as  she  started  toward  the  table  the  tightening  grip 
of  the  hand  which  still  held  hers  restrained  her.  She 
glanced  at  Rennison  quickly,  and  there  was  a  faint  tint  of 
color  on  her  cheeks  as  she  replied: 

"You  may  trust  me — now." 

He  released  her  hand,  but  kept  beside  her  as  she  stepped 
to  the  table.  She  drew  out  the  drawer  and  took  from  it  a 
little  silver  vanity  box. 

"Put  it  in  this,"  she  murmured,  as  she  held  it  out  to 
him. 

Rennison  took  it,  and,  with  a  match-stick,  he  thrust 
the  bud  into  the  box  and  replaced  the  cover.  After  slip 
ping  the  box  into  one  of  his  pockets,  he  set  fire  to  the 
match-stick  and  tossed  it  into  the  empty  fireplace. 

"Do  you  value  this  table  cover?"  he  asked. 

The  actress  shook  her  head  negatively. 

"I  will  take  it,  then,"  said  Rennison. 

He  lifted  the  cover  and,  after  rubbing  with  it  a  little 
spot  on  the  marble  top  of  the  table,  he  glanced  about  him. 
On  the  couch  he  saw  an  evening  newspaper.  He  picked 
up  this  and  wrapped  it  around  the  crumpled  cover,  then 
he  placed  the  little  bundle  on  a  chair  beside  his  cane  and 
hat. 

"And  now  we  come  to  my  part  of  the  agreement,'*  the 
officer  said,  with  a  sudden  assumption  of  cheerfulness. 

Miriam,  again  seated  beside  the  table,  had  hid  her  face 
in  her  hands.  Now,  as  she  looked  toward  Rennison  again, 
she  saw  he  was  taking  something  from  a  pocketbook. 
Slowly  she  sat  upright,  then  leaned  forward  as  he  laid 
before  her,  on  the  table,  five  sheets  of  tissue  paper.  She 
saw  one  of  the  sheets  bore  the  design  of  a  checkered  heart. 

For  several  moments  she  stared  dully  at  the  sheets,  then 
again  she  hid  her  face  in  her  hands. 


TRUE  COLORS  127 

"Thank  you,"  she  said,  brokenly.  "I  believe  in  you 
now." 

Rennison  gathered  up  the  papers  and  replaced  them  in 
his  pocketbook.  He  was  returning  to  his  chair  when  Mir 
iam  rose. 

"You  will  excuse  me  a  few  minutes — while  I  dress?" 
she  asked. 

"You  are  going  out?"  Rennison  queried. 

"The  law  requires  that  I  should  go  with  you,  of 
course,"  she  answered,  coldly.  "Am  I  not  a  murderess?" 

"There  is  no  hurry,"  Rennison  said.  "There  is  some 
thing  more  to  be  said  here,  before  we  go." 

The  young  woman  returned  slowly  to  her  chair  and 
sank  upon  it  listlessly. 

"You  have  not  told  me  how  you  came  to  be  involved  in 
this  affair,"  Rennison  went  on.  "Do  you  feel  strong 
enough  to  tell  me  now?" 

"Unless  you  require  full  details,  I  can  tell  you  in  a  few 
words,"  Miriam  replied.  "I  am  an  Englishwoman,  and 
my  whole  heart  and  soul  were  with  my  country  and 
yours  through  the  terrible  war.  As  an  actress,  I  was 
playing  in  'The  Scarlet  Tanager,'  in  New  York,  when  I 
was  informed  that  a  certain  man  who  was  forcing  his 
attentions  upon  me,  was  one  of  the  most  dangerous  of 
Seafalcon's  agents  in  the  United  States.  I  was  en 
couraged  by  a  representative  of  your  Department  of 
Justice  to  receive  his  attentions  and  secure  certain  evi 
dence  against  him.  I  did  so,  with  the  result  that  an  im 
portant  discovery,  of  great  value  to  your  Government, 
was  made. 

"This  was  the  beginning  of  certain  services  performed 
by  me  for  your  Government.  In  the  course  of  the  per 
formance  of  one  of  these  services,  I  was  brought  into 


128  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

touch  with  Captain  Reifsnyder.  He  was  a  graduate  of 
Annapolis  and  an  officer  in  the  Navy.  As  such  he  had 
my  entire  confidence. 

"A  week  ago  Reifsnyder  explained  to  me  that  a  certain 
agent  of  Seafalcon  was  expected  to  come  into  possession 
of  documents  that  were  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
the  United  States.  He  did  not  tell  me  who  the  man  was, 
but  explained  he  was  on  his  way  from  Chicago,  and  that 
the  documents  would  be  transferred  by  him,  in  Washing 
ton,  to  a  person  who  was  about  to  go  abroad.  It  was 
essential,  Reifsnyder  said,  that  these  papers  should  be 
obtained  by  the  Government  with  the  greatest  possible 
secrecy,  and  that  no  arrest  nor  any  publicity  should 
result  from  such  action.  He  asked  my  aid,  and,  enthused 
by  my  former  successes  as  a  secret  agent  of  the  Govern 
ment,  I  promised  to  do  all  in  my  power.  Captain  Reif 
snyder  thanked  me  and  explained  I  would  hear  from  him 
later,  and  that  immediately  after  receiving  my  instruc 
tions,  I  would  be  required  to  act  quickly. 

"Three  days  ago  Reifsnyder  summoned  me  to  Baltimore. 
There,  at  night,  in  a  little  house  in  a  suburb  of  the  city, 
I  received  my  instructions.  I  followed  them  carefully. 
To-day  I  prepared  Hayden's  cane  for  the  papers  I  was 
expected  to  obtain.  I  went  to  the  Weymouthshire  as  Mrs. 
Enderbrook.  Through  the  partly  opened  door  of  my 
room  I  saw  the  arrival  of  Channing,  who,  as  I  had  been 
informed,  was  the  Seafalcon  spy  from  whom  I  was  to  take 
certain  sheets  of  paper. 

"I  watched  Channing's  door,  and  when  he  came  out  I 
entered  the  hall.  Channing  was  having  some  trouble 
closing  the  door  of  his  room.  As  a  result  of  this,  I  was 
only  a  few  steps  from  him  when  he  left  it.  Affecting  not 
to  sec  him,  I  brushed  against  him  as  he  passed. 


TRUE  COLORS  129 

"Reifsnyder  had  given  to  me  the  little  rosebud,  which 
you  took  from  the  table.  He  explained  it  was  covered 
with  little  points  which,  on  contact  with  a  hand,  would 
eject  a  fluid  that  would  cause  immediate  insensibility. 
This  fluid,  he  told  me,  was  from  an  East  Indian  drug 
that  was  used  in  East  Indian  hospitals  during  the  per 
formance  of  surgical  operations,  and  that,  though  robbing 
a  patient  of  consciousness,  it  could  not  be  fatal.  He 
warned  me  that,  inasmuch  as  its  period  of  action  was 
limited  to  a  few  minutes,  I  must  work  quickly.'* 

"Well?"  Rennison  queried,  as  the  young  woman  paused. 

"Well,  as  I  brushed  against  Channing,  I  uttered  a 
little  exclamation.  *Oh,  I've  lost  it!'  I  said.  He  seemed 
a  little  irritated,  and  frowned  as  he  looked  at  me." 

"Were  you  veiled?"  Rennison  asked. 

"No.     I  had  raised  my  veil." 

The  Army  officer  smiled  grimly. 

"Then  he  stopped,  of  course,"  he  muttered. 

"Yes — he  stopped,  and  asked  me  if  had  lost  something. 
I  replied  I  had  dropped  a  little  jeweled  rosebud.  He  had 
just  said,  'We  must  find  it,  then,*  when  .he  saw  it — lying 
near  one  of  the  walls.  He  stooped  quickly  and  grasped 
it.  He  was  about  to  rise  when,  with  a  little,  choking 
sound,  he  fell  to  the  floor.  I — I  thought  he  was  only  un 
conscious — that  what  Reif " 

Her  voice  failed  her,  and,  sobbing  hysterically,  she 
pressed  her  hands  to  her  eyes. 

"That's  enough — for  the  present,  Miss  Warburton," 
Rennison  said.  He  rose,  and,  with  his  hands  behind  him, 
he  paced  thoughtfully  to  and  fro. 

Miriam  soon  recovered  some  of  her  composure.  Look 
ing  at  Rennison  again,  she  asked: 

"Who  was  that  who  kept  calling  me  to  the  telephone? 


130  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

If,  as  you  have  said,  the  wire  was  in  control  of  the  War 
Department,  who  was  it — 

"The  speaker  was  a  young  chap  who  was  acting  in 
accordance  with  directions  contained  in  a  letter  I  ad 
dressed  to  Captain  Merschon  a  few  minutes  before  I  came 
here  with  Storrow,"  Rennison  explained,  speaking  ab 
stractedly.  "The  calls  constituted  a  mild  application 
of  what  is  known  as  'the  third  degree.'  ' 

"It  was  brutal,"  Miriam  protested,  feebly,  "but  I 
suppose — 

"Its  purpose  was  to  put  you  into  a  frame  of  mind  that 
would  aid  in  letting  me  get  at  the  truth  of  your  connec 
tion  with  the  case,"  Rennison  went  on.  "My  young  friend 
Jimmy  has  had  occasion  to  do  that  sort  of  thing  before." 

"What  did  you  mean  when  you  just  said,  over  the  tele 
phone,  that  there  was  no  longer  a  woman  in  this  case — 
that  there  was  no  Mrs.  Enderbrook?" 

"I  meant  that,  being  satisfied  that  you  believed  this 
afternoon  you  were  working,  by  Government  authority,  in 
the  interest  of  the  Government,  no  court  would  hold  you 
responsible  for  the  acts  committed  by  you  in  the  Wey- 
mouthshire.  I  knew,  too,  that,  in  the  circumstances,  the 
officials  of  the  Government  would  oppose,  by  every  means 
in  their  power,  the  giving  of  publicity  to  any  detail  in 
this  case.  They  would  prefer  that  I  keep  your  part  in 
it  to  myself.  The  real  criminal  will — well,  he  will  offend 
no  more.  The  Government  will  have  the  missing  papers 
and  will  be  content.  There  is  only  one  person  whom  it  will 
be  necessary  to  take  into  our  confidence." 

"You — you    mean — Hayden?"    she    faltered. 

"Yes.  Inasmuch  as  he  knows  part  of  the  affair,  he 
must  know  all.  His  love  and  his  confidence  in  you  remain 
unshaken.  When  all  is  made  clear  to  him " 


TRUE  COLORS  131 

"Stop!"  Miriam  pleaded.  "I  do  not  want  his  love 
and  do  not  deserve  his  confidence.  I  have  been  a  wicked 
woman,  for  I  have  encouraged  his  attentions  to  me  only 
that  I  might  meet  certain  people  with  whom  he  is  ac 
quainted — people  who,  unknowingly,  have  aided  me  in 
work  I  did  for  the  Government.  When  I  first  met  him  it 
was  suspected  that  he  was  in  sympathy  with  the  Brother 
hood.  There  are  some  who  suspect  him  now.  But  I  know 
differently.  He  is  a  man  who  can  find  no  serious  purpose 
in  his  life — a  pleasure-seeking  idler,  too  fond  of  his  din 
ners,  the  company  of  pretty  women,  club  gossiping 
and " 

She  stopped,  for  she  realized  Rennison  no  longer  was 
listening  to  her.  His  hands  were  thrust  into  the  pockets 
of  his  trousers,  as  he  gazed  abstractedly  toward  a  covered 
typewriting  machine  that  stood  on  a  small  table  in  a 
corner  of  the  room. 

"Typewriting  is  among  your  accomplishments,  eh?" 
Rennison  muttered. 

A  puzzled  expression  crept  over  Miriam's  face,  as  she 
answered,  shortly: 

"No."  Then,  after  a  pause  she  added:  "I  sublet  the 
apartment  from  two  young  women  who  are  out  of  the  city 
for  four  months.  The  machine  you  see  belongs  to  one  of 
them." 

Rennison  crossed  to  the  machine  and  removed  its  cloth 
covering.  With  a  few  deft  touches  he  assured  himself 
that  it  was  in  working  order.  This  done,  he  drew  open 
the  drawer  of  the  table.  It  contained  two  open  boxes  of 
typewriting  paper. 

"You  will  allow  me  to  use  this  for  a  few  minutes — to 
make  a  report?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Certainly,"  Miriam  replied. 


122  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Seating  himself  in  front  of  the  machine,  the  Army 
officer  placed  on  the  roll  two  sheets  of  paper.  Miriam, 
continuing  to  watch  him,  saw  him  take  out  his  pocket- 
book.  From  this  he  drew  the  sheets  of  tissue  paper 
which,  several  hours  before,  the  actress  had  taken  from  the 
red  pocketbook  she  found  inside  the  vest  of  Oliver  Chan 
ging- 

"You — you  are  going  to  make  a  copy?"  the  young 
woman  exclaimed,  wonderingly,  and  again  there  was  a 
note  of  suspicion  in  her  voice. 

"No,  Miss  Warburton,"  Rennison  answered,  absently. 
"No,  one  would  scarcely  call  it  that.'* 


CHAPTER  XVHI. 

FOES    IN    AMBUSH. 

FOB  more  than  half  an  hour  the  silence  of  the  apartment 
was  broken  only  by  the  clicking  of  the  typewriter  at 
which  Rennison  sat.  Miriam  Warburton,  still  sitting  at 
the  table,  watched  the  Army  officer  as  he  worked.  Sen 
tence  by  sentence,  he  seemed  to  be  copying  what  was  writ 
ten  on  the  sheets  the  actress  had  taken  from  one  of  the 
pockets  of  Oliver  Channing.  Though  he  paused,  from 
time  to  time,  as  if  engrossed  in  thought,  he  worked  rap- 
idly. 

Twice  or  thrice  Miriam  seemed  to  be  on  the  point  of 
yielding  to  hysteria  as  the  magnitude  of  her  error  and  its 
resultant  tragedy  became  more  apparent  to  her,  but  in 
the  imperturbable  aspect  of  Rennison,  as  he  worked  on, 
was  something  that  still  puzzled  and  vaguely  alarmed  her. 
What  was  his  purpose  in  copying  the  great  secret  which 
had  been  committed  to  these  fateful  sheets? 

At  length,  gathering  up  the  sheets,  Rennison  moved 
back  from  the  table  at  which  he  had  been  writing. 

"Let  me  have  some  ink  and  a  pen,  please,  Miss  Warbur 
ton,'*  he  said,  shortly. 

The  actress  rose  and  crossed  the  room  to  a  little  writ 
ing  desk.  From  this  she  took  the  materials  for  which  he 
had  asked. 

" Where  will  you  have  them?"  she  asked,  coldly. 

133 


134  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Here,"  Rennison  replied,  indicating  the  table  from 
which  she  had  just  risen. 

Miriam  placed  the  pen,  ink  and  a  blotter  on  the  marble 
from  which  he  had  taken  the  "flower  of  immortality"  only 
a  few  minutes  before.  He  seated  himself  on  the  gilded 
chair,  and  in  a  few  moments  he  was  tracing  on  a  sheet  of 
paper  a  facsimile  of  the  checkered  heart.  When  this 
was  done  he  returned  to  his  pocketbook  the  sheets  of 
tissue  paper  he  had  taken  from  it.  The  sheets  he  had 
written  upon  he  folded  carefully  and  slipped  into  an 
inside  pocket  of  his  coat. 

"That's  all,  I  think — just  now,"  he  muttered,  thought- 
fully. 

Both  rose,  and  Rennison  held  out  a  hand.  Miriam,  ap 
parently  not  seeing  it,  turned  aside.  The  hand  fell  to 
Rennison's  side  again. 

"I'll  leave  you  now,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said.  "It  is 
idle,  of  course,  for  me  to  say  I  am  sorry  that  you  have 
had  such  a  hard  day  of  it.  When  I  came  here,  Storrow 
told  me  you  had  a  maid — who  leaves  you  at  night.  I 
would  suggest  that  you  do  not  remain  here  alone — that 
you  send  for  the  maid  and  keep  her  with  you  until  morn 
ing.  Can  you  not  get  a  message  to  her  that  will  bring  her 
to  you?" 

"I  would  rather  be  alone,  I  think,"  Miriam  replied,  list 
lessly. 

Rennison  hesitated,  then  crossed  to  the  couch,  from 
which  he  took  his  hat  and  cane  and  the  little  package  he 
had  placed  beside  them. 

"It  is  probable  that  Storrow  will  communicate  with  you 
by  telephone  in  an  hour  or  so,"  Rennison  went  on.  "I 
would  suggest,  however,  that,  though  you  may  assure  him 
that  everything  is  all  right,  you  witlihold  from  him  all 


FOES  IN  AMBUSH  135 

details  concerning  the  subject  of  our  conversation.  I  will 
either  see  you  or  communicate  with  you  in  the  morning. 
Meantime — well,  I  should  feel  easier  in  my  mind  were  you 
to  send  for  your  maid.  I  really  do  not  think  you  should 
remain  here  alone." 

"What  have  I  to  fear?"  Miriam  asked,  bitterly.  "Not 
even  death  has  any  terror  for  me  now.  Nothing  matters — 
nothing.  I  cannot  sleep,  of  course.  Every  one  seems 
to  have  access  to  my  apartments  to-night.  As  you  have 
seen,  not  even  the  lock  on  the  door  can  keep  intruders 
out." 

Coloring  slightly,  Rennison  replied. 

"There  will  be  no  further  intrusion  for  which  I  may  be 
held  responsible,  Miss  Warburton.  The  man  who  en 
tered  when  I  had  the  handcuffs  on  my  wrists  had  been 
stationed  in  the  building  for  such  an  emergency.  He  is  a 
member  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence.  The 
name  Glendennen,  which  I  gave  to  my  little  friend,  Jimmy, 
at  the  switchboard  in  the  War  Department,  when  I  was 
at  the  telephone,  was  overheard  by  our  representative 
at  the  switchboard  downstairs.  It  was  a  signal  indicating 
that  I  was  in  need  of  immediate  assistance.  While  you 
and  I  were  talking  in  here,  the  man  you  saw  obtained  a 
pass  key  from  the  janitor,  and  had  opened  the  hall  door 
long  enough  to  check  the  lock.  Later,  my  signal  for  aid 
was  communicated  to  him  by  what  one  might  call  a  re 
layed  whistle  from  the  downstairs  switchboard.  You 
are  not  sorry  it  reached  his  ears,  I  am  sure." 

Miriam,  with  a  hand  resting  on  the  marble  top  of  the 
table,  was  standing  upright  now  and  looking  at  him  with  a 
strange  intentness.  The  shadows  were  darker  under  her 
red-lidded,  lustrous  eyes. 

"I  had  been  told  you  were  clever,"  she  replied,  dully. 


136  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"But  no  one  ever  had  told  me  seriously  that  I  was  a 
fool." 

"I  am  the  fool,  Miss  Warburton,"  Rennison  answered, 
gloomily.  "Were  I  clever,  I  would  be  able  to  evade  the 
sort  of  service  the  War  Department  has  compelled  me  to 
perform  to-day." 

He  looked  broodingly  at  the  little  package  he  was 
taking  with  him,  then,  raising  his  eyes,  he  glanced  at  her 
again.  He  saw  she  had  left  the  table.  In  another  moment 
she  had  reached  the  dark  fireplace.  As  she  extended  one 
of  her  white,  shapely  arms  along  the  end  of  the  mantel 
above  this,  she  turned  to  him  again. 

"Good-night,"  said  Rennison,  bowing  slightly. 

She  did  not  reply,  but  as  the  young  officer  passed  out 
to  the  hallway  he  saw  she  was  looking  after  him — with  a 
puzzled  expression  in  the  eyes  which  seemed  to  have 
absorbed  all  the  life  from  her  haggard,  pallid  face. 

And  so  he  left  her. 

When  the  hall  door  was  closed  behind  him,  Rennison 
walked  briskly  on  toward  the  elevator  shaft.  As  he 
halted  at  the  door  of  this,  he  heard  a  faint  shuffling  of 
feet  on  the  stone  stairway  which  led  down,  around  the 
shaft,  to  the  floor  below.  A  few  moments  later  the  man 
who  had  removed  the  handcuffs  from  him  a  few  minutes 
before  appeared  at  the  top  of  the  stairs. 

"All  right,  sir?"  the  man  asked. 

"All  right,  Joe,"  Rennison  replied.  "Better  come  to  the 
street  with  me." 

The  elevator  soon  responded  to  Rennison's  ring,  and 
when  the  first  floor  was  reached  the  two  men  passed  out  to 
the  street. 

"Is  the  watch  off  here,  Captain?"  Joe  inquired. 

"Not  yet,"  Rennison  answered.     "Keep  Ellison  at  the 


FOES  IN  AMBUSH  137 

switchboard  until  six  o'clock  in  the  morning.  I  want 
a  record  of  all  calls  to  and  from  the  apartment  I  have 
left.  I  am  convinced  the  woman  is  all  right,  but  it  is 
just  possible  that  one  or  more  persons  who  are  not  all 
right  will  learn  that  certain  of  their  plans  have  gone 
wrong  and  will  attempt  to  get  into  communication  with 
her.  Meantime,  you'd  better  hang  around,  and  await  de 
velopments.  Miss  Warburton,  however,  is  not  to  be 
molested  in  any  way  and  is  to  have  perfect  freedom  of 
action.  In  no  circumstances  is  she  to  get  the  impression 
that  she  is  being  watched.  It  is  best,  however,  that  for 
the  next  three  or  four  hours  a  record  be  kept  of  tele 
phone  communications  with  her  apartment.  I  will  call 
you  up  before  I  break  off  work  for  the  night." 

"Very  good,  sir,"  Joe  replied,  respectfully. 

Rennison  nodded,  and  passed  on.  Joe  returned  slowly 
toward  the  doorway  of  the  apartment  house.  A  few 
steps  took  the  Army  officer  to  Columbia  Road.  There  he 
found  a  taxi  and  directed  the  chauffeur  to  put  him  down 
in  front  of  a  certain  restaurant.  Then  he  lighted  a  cigar 
and  stepped  into  the  vehicle. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A   DEPARTMENTAL    COUNCIL. 

WHEN  the  taxi  stopped  in  front  of  the  restaurant,  Ren- 
nison  alighted,  paid  the  chauffeur  and  entered  the  build 
ing.  As  it  was  a  little  too  soon  for  after-theater  suppers, 
the  big  room  was  almost  deserted.  Rennison  ordered  a 
meal  and  ate  deliberately.  When  he  was  done,  he  strolled 
to  and  through  Lafayette  Square,  and  thence  to  the  de 
partment  building. 

As  the  young  officer  entered  Merchon's  office,  he  saw, 
sitting  around  the  table,  Horsford,  Colonel  Hawkshurst, 
Captain  Merschon  and  Towndrow.  All  seemed  to  be 
laboring  under  suppressed  excitement.  They  were  lis 
tening  to  Towndrow,  whose  face  was  grim  and  white  as  he 
spoke  with  quiet  earnestness. 

Upon  seeing  Rennison,  Towndrow  ceased  speaking, 
and  all  looked  at  the  newcomer  sharply.  The  gloom  on 
his  features  misled  them. 

"It's  all  right,  I  think,  Rennison,"  Merschon  said,  reas 
suringly.  "It  looks  as  if  we  were  in  a  fair  way  to  get  our 
man." 

"Thanks  to  Towndrow  and  his  chief,"  growled  Hors 
ford,  flashing  a  glance  of  disapproval  toward  Rennison. 

"But  do  not  forget,  Mr.  Horsford,  that  part  of  the 
credit  goes  to  Captain  Rennison,"  Towndrow  corrected, 
quickly.  Then,  addressing  Rennison,  the  Secret  Service 
man  went  on:  "I  forwarded  to  the  Chief,  in  New  York, 
those  suggestions  you  made  in  the  hotel.  He  found  that 

138 


A  DEPARTMENTAL  COUNCIL  139 

Captain  Reifsnyder  had  called  up  Charming,  on  the  tele 
phone,  at  Loudenfield,  and  had  told  him  his  friend  Ender- 
brook  would  not  accompany  him  to  Washington,  but 
that  he  would  find  a  room  ready  for  his  own  occupancy  at 
the  Weymouthshire." 

"Reifsnyder,  eh?"  Rennison  muttered. 

"Yes,"  Towndrow  replied.  "There  is  no  question  con 
cerning  the  identity  of  the  man  who  sent  the  telephone 
message  to  Channing.  It  was  Reifsnyder." 

"But  what  of  Enderbrook?" 

"We  have  every  reason  to  believe  there  was  no  such 
person.  Moreover,  working  at  this  end,  I  located  the 
booth  from  which  the  supposed  Enderbrook  telephoned  to 
the  Weymouthshire  this  morning,  asking  that  his  wife  be 
made  comfortable  in  the  room  that  had  been  reserved  for 
him." 

"Good,"  Rennison  said,  approvingly. 

"Well,  the  booth  was  right  here — in  Washington — and 
the  man  who  talked  over  the  telephone  has  been  described 
in  a  manner  which  makes  it  clear  that  he  was  none  other 
than  Reifsnyder,  himself." 

"That's  progress,"  said  Rennison. 

"The  Chief  also  is  satisfied  that  Reifsnyder,  an  expert 
on  the  subject  of  explosives,  placed  on  the  Dragonfly, 
with  his  own  hands,  one  of  the  bombs  that  had  been  made 
by  McCormick — the  inventor  of  whom  I  spoke  to  you — 
for  experimental  purposes.  It  long  has  been  a  custom  of 
Reif  snyder's  to  carry  with  him  a  small  camera,  with  which 
to  photograph  the  effects  of  explosives  when,  as  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Bureau  of  Experimentation,  he  witnessed  their 
tests.  He  carried  what  appeared  to  be  a  box  camera 
when  he  went  aboard  the  Dragonfly,  and  he  had  it  with 
him  when  he  left  the  boat.  The  Chief's  theory,  however, 


140  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

is  that  from  the  interior  of  the  box  the  photographic  ap 
paratus  had  been  removed  and  that  one  of  McCormick's 
aerial  bombs  was  in  the  box  when  Reifsnyder  went  on  the 
vessel  and  was  placed  by  him  before  the  doors  and  hatches 
were  sealed  by  Rear-Admiral  Longley  and  himself." 

"But  McCormick's  bombs,  being  of  the  aerial  variety, 
surely  were  not  detonated  by  clockwork,"  Rennison  pro 
tested. 

"No,  but  it  is  probable  Reifsnyder  attached  to  it  some 
clockwork  device." 

"All  this  is  pretty  strong,  but  what  does  Reifsnyder, 
himself,  say  about  it?"  Rennison  asked. 

"We  have  not  been  in  communication  with  him  yet,  but 
we  expect "  Towndrow  began,  but  Horsford  inter 
rupted  him. 

"I  have  cautioned  Towndrow  not  to  proceed  too 
blindly,"  the  Assistant  Secretary  said.  "It  is  possible  that 
we  are  taking  too  much  for  granted.  We  must  not  jump 
at  conclusions.  Let  us  take  our  time — so  far  as  Reif 
snyder  is  concerned.  Our  principal  object  just  now  is 
to  regain  possession  of  the  papers  which  were  taken  from 
the  body  of  poor  Channing.  It  seems  clear  that  they  were 
taken  by  a  woman.  That  woman  must  be  found  with  as 
little  delay  as  possible.  If  the  trail  then  leads  to  Reif 
snyder,  we  will  deal  with  him  as  a  confederate.  It  cannot 
be  denied  that  you  Secret  Service  people,  aided  by  some 
suggestions  from  Rennison,  are  making  a  fairly  strong 
circumstantial  case  against  him — as  a  confederate.  But 
it  is  essential  that  we  get  the  principal — this  woman,  who, 
having  committed  murder,  has  obtained  possession  of  a 
secret  which  means  the  triumph  or  annihilation  of  Sea- 
falcon.  Why  do  you  not  find  her?" 

Rennison's   attitude  was  one  of  respectful  attention. 


A  DEPARTMENTAL  COUNCIL  141 

He  was  conscious  of  a  strange  change  that  had  come  over 
Horsford  since  the  meeting  in  the  afternoon.  Then  he 
had  appeared  to  be  on  the  verge  of  collapse.  Now  he 
spoke  with  restraint.  As  he  began  to  speak,  there  was  a 
suggestion  of  diffidence  in  his  manner,  but,  proceeding, 
he  grew  warmer  and  then  contemptuous,  as  he  referred  to 
their  failure  to  find  the  woman.  He  seemed  to  be  address 
ing  Towndrow.  Only  once  did  he  glance  at  Rennison,  and 
then  it  was  merely  for  a  moment. 

"We  must  find  the  woman — quickly,"  assented  Colonel 
Hawkshurst,  who,  as  head  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  In 
telligence,  was  Rennison's  immediate  superior. 

Rennison's  gaze  fell  thoughtfully  to  the  floor,  then  he 
turned  to  Captain  Merschon,  who  had  been  eyeing  him 
fixedly. 

"When  you  gave  my  note  to  Coughlin,  Captain,  did  he 
tell  you  what  it  directed  him  to  do?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Why,  yes,"  Merschon  answered,  reflectively.  "He 
told  me  you  had  directed  him  to  go  to  the  Guilfords' 
reception  and  to  shadow  a  man  who  might  leave  the  house 
with  a  certain  kind  of  cane.  He  explained  that  you  also 
told  him  that  when  the  man  reached  his  destination,  the 
place  should  be  watched  for  an  hour,  and  every  person 
entering  or  leaving  it  should  be  closely  scrutinized.  When 
he  was  done,  he  was  to  report  to  you  here." 

"Reifsnyder  understood  he  was  to  meet  us  here  at  mid 
night?"  Rennison  inquired. 

"Yes,"  answered  Hawkshurst.  "If  he  is  guilty,  it  is 
reasonable  to  believe  that  he  wrould  be  loath  to  excite  sus 
picion  by  remaining  away.  In  accordance  with  Mr.  Hors- 
ford's  suggestion,  we  decided  to  await  his  arrival,  rather 
than  let  him  get  wind  of  the  fact  that  we  are  seeking 
him." 


142  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Hurried  footsteps  in  the  hall  caused  all  to  turn  ex 
pectantly  toward  the  door. 

"Reifsnyder,  perhaps,"  Hawkshurst  suggested. 

But  when  the  door  was  thrown  open,  it  was  Coughlin 
who  entered.  His  face  was  flushed  and  he  was  breathing 
heavily. 

"Well,  Captain  Rennison,  I  followed  the  man  who  went 
away  with  the  cane,"  he  said.  "I  shadowed  him  to  his 
house  and  waited.  He 

"Who  was  the  man  and  where  was  the  house?"  Renni 
son  interrupted. 

"It  was  Captain  Reifsnyder." 

"How  long  ago  was  it  you  saw  him?"  Horsford  in 
quired. 

"He  left  the  Guilfords  about  an  hour  ago." 

"Well?"  queried  Rennison.      "You   said  you  waited." 

"Yes.  I  saw  no  one  else  go  in  or  out.  But  in  about 
fifteen  minutes  I  heard  the  sound  of  a  pistol  shot.  It 
seemed  to  come  from  inside  the  house,  and — 

"Oh,  my  God!"  exclaimed  Horsford  in  shaking  accents. 
"We'll  never  get  it  now." 

"Go  on,  Coughlin,"  Rennison  directed,  impatiently. 

"A  few  moments  later  I  heard  the  shrieking  of  women," 
the  detective  continued.  "I  ran  up  the  front  steps  and 
rang  the  bell.  Three  times  I  rang  it  before  the  butler 
came  to  the  door.  I  told  him  who  I  was  and  asked  him 
what  had  happened  inside.  He  seemed  too  bewildered  to 
answer.  But  he  let  me  in." 

Stopping  for  breath,  Coughlin  mopped  the  perspiration 
from  his  face ;  then  he  went  on : 

"I  heard  voices  in  a  room  upstairs,  and  I  ran  up  to  the 
second  floor.  A  woman,  wringing  her  hands,  told  me  her 
husband  had  killed  himself.  I  told  her  I  represented  the 


A  DEPARTMENTAL  COUNCIL 

police,  and  went  into  the  room.  It  was  a  library.  I  rec 
ognized  Captain  Reifsnyder,  who  was  sitting  on  a  chair 
in  front  of  his  desk.  His  chin  was  on  his  breast.  Blood 
still  was  flowing  from  a  wound  in  the  middle  of  his  fore 
head.  He  was  dead.  On  the  floor  beside  him  lay  a  pis 
tol.  In  front  of  him,  on  the  desk,  a  slip  of  paper  lay 
beside  a  cane.  It  was  a  sword  cane,  Captain,  and  the 
blade  was  out.  The  point  of  the  blade  was  missing,  and 
then  I  knew,  Captain,  the  missing  point  was  the  one  you 
had  picked  up  in  that  room  in  the  Weymouthshire.'* 

"But  the  paper — the  paper!"  Horsford  demanded, 
stridently. 

"It  was  this  note — signed  by  Captain  Rennison." 

Horsford  seemed  to  be  bereft  of  the  power  of  speech 
and  motion.  Merschon  took  the  paper  from  the  detec 
tive's  extended  hand.  Merschon  glanced  at  Rennison, 
who,  nodding,  said: 

"Read  it  aloud,  Captain." 

Towndrow,  leaning  forward,  gripped  the  arms  of  his 
chair  and  gazed  fixedly  at  Rennison,  as  Merschon  read: 

Sir:  The  papers  which  were  placed  in  this  stick  for  trans 
mission  to  you  have  been  found  and  appropriated  by  a  repre 
sentative  of  the  War  Department.  It  may  interest  you  to 
know  that  in  taking  this  cane  from  the  Guilford  house  your 
identification  as  a  confederate  in  the  perpetration  of  the 
murder  and  robbery  in  the  Hotel  Weymouthshire  this  after 
noon  has  been  made  complete. 

(Signed)      GEORGE  RENNISON,  Captain,  U.S.A. 

Tottering  to  Merschon,  Horsford  snatched  the  note 
from  his  hand. 

"Captain — Rennison — what  does  this  mean?"  the  As 
sistant  Secretary  demanded,  hoarsely.  "What  was  it 
you  meant  when  you  wrote,  'the  papers  which  were  placed 


144  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

in  this  stick  for  transmission  to  you  have  been  found  and 
appropriated  by  a  representative  of  the  War  Depart 
ment?'" 

From  an  inside  pocket  of  his  coat  Rennison  drew  out 
the  sheets  which  Miriam  Warburton  had  seen  him  writing 
upon  as  they  passed  through  the  typewriting  machine  in 
her  room. 

"I  have  them,  Mr.  Horsford,"  he  answered  quietly. 

Clutching  the  sheets,  Horsford  unfolded  them  with 
shaking  fingers.  He  saw  the  checkered  heart  and  the 
closely  written  typewritten  pages  behind  it.  As  he  glanced 
at  them,  one  by  one,  Hawkshurst  and  Merschon  watched 
him  eagerly.  The  Secret  Service  man  continued  to  gaze 
at  Rennison,  however.  As  Rennison  watched  Horsford, 
his  features  were  expressionless. 

Horsford,  fumbling  the  crinkling  sheets,  nodded  re 
peatedly  and  cleared  his  throat. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  in  a  quivering  voice.  "Yes,  gentlemen, 
they  are  here." 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE    RENNISON   WAY. 

FOR  several  moments  no  word  was  spoken.  Those  who 
had  risen  returned  to  their  chairs.  Horsford,  whose  agi 
tation  now  seemed  to  be  subsiding,  took  a  long  wallet 
from  one  of  his  pockets  and  slipped  into  this  the  sheets 
Rennison  had  given  to  him.  Coughlin,  sitting  on  the  edge 
of  his  chair,  continued  to  mop  his  face  with  his  handker 
chief.  The  Secret  Service  man  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"Well,  Rennison,  you've  turned  the  trick,"  Towndrow 
muttered.  "But  how?" 

"Yes,  Rennison,  let's  have  it,"  Hawkshurst  said.  "The 
recovery  of  those  papers  was  the  main  thing,  of  course, 
and  it  seems  pretty  clear  that  Reifsnyder  was  a  confed 
erate  of  the  person  who  killed  and  robbed  Channing.  But 
tvho  was  that  person?  From  what  Towndrow  told  us 
concerning  his  experience  with  you  at  the  Weymouthshire, 
we  have  had  reason  to  believe  you  suspected  that  the  per 
petrator  of  the  crime  was  a  woman.  Merschon  tells  us, 
however,  that  when  he  had  you  on  the  telephone,  a  couple 
of  hours  ago,  you  assured  him  there  was  no  woman  in 
volved.  Where  does  this  mysterious  person  who  posed 
as  Mrs.  Enderbrook  fit  in  the  case?  By  whom  was  Chan 
ning  murdered  and  robbed?" 

Rennison,  hesitating,  looked  moodily  at  a  pattern  he 
was  tracing  on  the  carpet  with  the  ferule  of  his  cane. 

"The  person  who  caused  the  death  of  Channing  and  tools 

145 


146  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

from  the  body  the  sheets  of  paper  containing  the  secret 
of  his  invention  is  not  punishable,"  he  replied. 

"Not  punishable !"  exclaimed  Hawkshurst,  as  all  eyed 
the  young  Army  officer  with  expressions  of  astonishment. 

"Great  Heaven,  man,  are  you  mad?"  faltered  the  be 
wildered  Merschon. 

"Perfectly  sane,  I  assure  you,"  Rennison  answered, 
calmly.  "In  the  eye  of  the  law  the  person  of  whom  I 
speak  is  entirely  innocent  of  crime." 

"You  will  let  us  be  judges  of  that,  Captain?"  Hawks- 
hurst  asked,  grimly. 

"I  will  explain  my  position  briefly,"  said  Rennison. 
"For  the  present,  at  least,  I  should  prefer  to  withhold 
certain  details.  In  accordance  with  a  plan  that  had 
been  carefully  formulated  by  Reifsnyder  the  papers  were 
taken  from  the  body  of  Channing  by  a  person  who  had 
been  led  by  Reifsnyder  to  believe  that  Channing  was  a 
dangerous  enemy  of  the  United  States  and  that  the  Gov 
ernment,  for  serious  diplomatic  reasons,  could  obtain 
possession  of  the  papers  only  by  stealth — even  if  it  were 
necessary  to  have  recourse  to  a  criminal  proceeding  in  or 
der  to  secure  them.  This  person  also  had  been  given  to 
understand,  by  Reifsnyder,  an  officer  in  the  Navy,  that  a 
certain  fluid,  which,  caused  Channing's  death,  would  pro 
duce  only  temporary  unconsciousness.  Having  adminis 
tered  this  fluid  and  obtained  possession  of  the  papers, 
from  the  supposed  enemy  agent,  this  person  placed  them 
inside  a  sword  cane  belonging  to  a  man  who  had  no 
knowledge  of  the  crime.  Reifsnyder  had  designed  taking 
them  from  the  cane  to-night,  after  having  obtained  pos 
session  of  the  cane  at  the  Guilford  reception.  Inasmuch 
as  the  cane  came  into  my  hands  before  it  reached  Reif- 
snyder's,  he  did  not  find  the  papers,  but  he  did  find  my 


THE  RENNISON  WAY  147 

note,  which  plainly  gave  him  to  understand  that  he  was 
discovered." 

"Was  the  person  to  whom  you  refer  a  man  or  a 
woman?"  Merschon  asked. 

"What  does  it  matter?"  Rennison  replied.  "That  per 
son,  ultra-loyal,  is  innocent  of  any  attempt  to  commit  a 
crime.  In  the  circumstances,  I  have  given  my  assurance 
of  protection.  Why,  in  a  case  of  this  sort,  should  a 
knowledge  of  all  details  be  necessary?  You  have  the 
papers  we  have  been  seeking.  The  man  who  was  respon 
sible  for  the  murder  and  theft  is  dead.  Inasmuch  as  he 
was  an  officer  of  the  Navy,  it  is  plain  that  the  less  that 
is  said  about  the  case,  the  better." 

"You  have  given  an  assurance  of  protection,  eh?'* 
Hawkshurst  muttered,  disapprovingly. 

"Yes,  Colonel,"  Rennison  answered,  firmly. 

"You  may  have  found  such  action  expedient,  perhaps, 
Rennison,"  put  in  Merschon,  "but,  inasmuch  as  the  affair 
is  of  such  a  distinctly  serious  character — even  involving 
the  honor  and  efficiency  of  the  naval  service — I  would 
say  that  it  were  better  that  you  take  some  of  us  into 
your  confidence.  Your  assurance  of  protection  would  not 
be  impaired  by  a  communication  of  all  details  to  the  heads 
of  the  two  bureaus  of  intelligence." 

"I  would  prefer  to  withhold  knowledge  of  the  identity 
of  this  particular  person  even  from  them,"  Rennison  said, 
doggedly. 

"Your  desire  for  secrecy  is  inspired  by  some  personal 
motive?"  Merschon  queried. 

"Perhaps,"  Rennison  answered,  shortly.  There  was  a 
pause,  then  he  added:  "It  is  possible,  too,  that  it  may 
be  in  the  interest  of  the  Government  service." 

Hawkshurst,  who  was  lighting  a  cigar,  looked  at  Ren- 


148  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

nison  sharply.  Rennison's  gaze  had  fallen  to  the  floor. 
Hawkshurst  and  Merschon  exchanged  significant  glances. 
The  Assistant  Secretary  cleared  his  throat. 

"Why  quibble — why  quibble?'*  he  demanded,  impatient 
ly.  "Rennison  has  succeeded  in  his  quest.  The  missing 
papers  have  been  recovered,  and  now  are  in  the  depart 
ment's  possession.  Of  Reifsnyder's  guilt  there  no  longer 
is  any  doubt.  But  Reifsnyder  is  dead.  I,  for  one,  am 
perfectly  willing  to  accept  Rennison's  assurance  that  his 
confederate,  whether  the  person  be  man  or  woman,  was 
deceived  by  Reifsnyder  and  cannot  be  punished  under  the 
law.  By  revealing  the  name  of  that  person,  Rennison 
might  satisfy  our  curiosity,  perhaps.  But  what  is  the 
use?  In  his  possession  alone,  the  secret  is  safe.  If  he 
communicates  it  to  others,  it  might  obtain  publicity.  In 
a  case  of  this  sort  publicity  is  to  be  dreaded.  Captain 
Rennison's  character  and  services  to  the  Government  are 
such  that,  I  think,  his  wishes  in  this  matter  should  be 
respected." 

"Well,  if  that  is  your  view,  Mr.  Horsford,  there  is 
nothing  more  to  be  said,  of  course,"  Merschon  grumbled. 
"For  my  part,  I  am  perfectly  willing  to  regard  this  as 
one  of  those  cases  that  are  to  be  classified  as  purely 
departmental  affairs.  The  papers  have  been  recovered  and 
Reifsnyder,  the  real  criminal,  has  died  by  his  own  hand. 
That  settles  it  I  suppose,  and — 

"Settled  in  the  Rennison  way,"  Towndrow  finished, 
moodily. 

As  the  Secret  Service  man  spoke,  Rennison,  glancing 
at  him  sharply,  flushed  darkly.  Towndrow,  meeting  his 
gaze,  smiled  grimly. 

Merschon  turned  to  the  city  detective. 

"The  department  is  grateful  to  you  for  the  aid  you 


THE  RENNISON  WAY  149 

have  given  to  us  in  this  affair,  Coughlin,"  he  said.  "You 
will  be  compensated  for  your  services,  of  course.  It  is 
essential,  however,  that  you  take  no  one  into  your  con 
fidence  concerning  anything  that  you  have  seen  or  heard 
in  connection  with  the  case  we  have  had  in  hand.  You 
will  report  to  your  superiors  that  your  work  in  connec 
tion  with  the  Channing  death  brought  you  into  coopera 
tion  with  the  Navy  Department.  At  our  request  the  Cor 
oner  will  find,  of  course,  that  Channing  died  from  natural 
causes.  The  department  will  formally  thank  your  chief 
for  your  services.  If  you  have  occasion  to  reveal  the  fact 
that  you  were  in  Reifsnyder's  house,  after  his  suicide  to 
night,  you  merely  will  say  that  you  chanced  to  be  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  place  in  connection  with  a  matter  that 
had  to  do  with  this  department,  and  that  any  explanation 
concerning  your  relation  with  the  Reifsnyder  affair  must 
come  from  me.  That  will  let  you  out,  I  guess." 

"Sure,"  Coughlin  assented,  affably,  as  he  grasped  the 
hand  which  Merschon  extended  to  him.  "Nobody's  going 
to  hear  a  word  of  this  from  me.  The  fact  is  I  couldn't 
tell  much,  if  I  tried.  The  game  has  been  a  little  too  big 
for  me,  and  I've  been  guessing  most  of  the  time.  When  we 
flatfeet  of  the  city  force  find  ourselves  working  with  you 
Federal  men,  we  feel  like  catfish  going  up  a  rapids  along 
side  a  trout.  Well,  so  long,  gentlemen.  Good-night.'* 

And  Coughlin  went  out. 

The  telephone  on  the  desk  was  ringing.  Hawkshurst 
answered  it. 

"Some  one  for  you,  Rennison,"  the  Colonel  said. 

Rennison  went  to  the  instrument,  and  took  up  the  re 
ceiver. 

"Hello,"  he  called. 

"That  you,  Rennison?"  asked  a  voice  over  the  wire. 


150  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Yes." 

"This  is  Storrow,  Ren.  I  have  something  of  importance 
to  say  to  you.  How  soon  will  you  be  leaving  the  depart 
ment?" 

"I  am  preparing  to  leave  now." 

"Well,  in  five  minutes  I'll  have  my  car  at  the  Pennsyl 
vania  Avenue  side  of  the  building.  Can  I  take  you  to 
your  hotel?  I'm  in  no  hurry,  and  can  wait." 

"Thanks,  old  man.  I'll  be  along  in  about  ten  or  fifteen 
minutes." 

"Good.  You'll  find  me  waiting.  Is  everything  all  right 
with  you?" 

Rennison  hesitated.  There  was  a  note  of  apprehension 
in  Storrow's  voice  that  was  not  to  be  mistaken. 

"Yes — all  right,"  Rennison  replied. 

"Fine,"  said  Storrow.  "I'll  see  you  later,  then.  Good- 
by." 

Rennison  heard  a  click  which  indicated  that  the  receiver 
at  the  other  end  of  the  wire  had  been  returned  to  its  hook. 
Then,  frowning  thoughtfully,  he  rose. 

When  the  five  men  had  filed  out  to  the  dimly  lighted 
corridor,  Horsford,  turning,  addressed  his  companions. 

"Well,  gentlemen,  inasmuch  as  I  will  have  to  use  a  tele 
phone  for  a  few  minutes,  I  will  bid  you  good-night,"  he 
said.  "It  has  been  a  nerve-racking  day  for  all  of  us,  and 
I  still  am  too  dazed  to  think  clearly  on  all  we  have  been 
through.  It  has  been  a  day  and  night  of  terrible  fears 
and  amazing  results.  We  have  earned  our  rest.  Good 
night." 

Walking  with  long,  nervous  strides,  Horsford  hurried  on 
to  a  sound-proof  telephone  booth.  Merschon  stopped  to 
snap  the  lock  of  the  door.  Hawkshurst  moved  on  alone. 
Rennison,  addressing  Towndrow  in  a  low  voice,  said: 


THE  RENNISON  WAY  151 

"Wait  for  me  at  the  main  entrance  of  the  building. 
It  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that  I  have  a  few  words 
with  you.  I'll  be  along  in  eight  or  ten  minutes." 

"I'll  wait,"  the  Secret  Service  man  answered  curtly. 

"Meantime,  I  have  something  to  say  to  the  Colonel," 
Rennison  explained. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

PITFAIXS   OF   DEATH. 

IN  a  few  moments  Hawkshurst  was  overtaken.  Ren- 
nison  slackened  his  pace. 

"Good-night,  Colonel,"  Towndrow  said,  continuing  on 
his  way. 

"Good-night,"  replied  Hawkshurst.  He  turned  as 
Rennison  laid  a  hand  on  one  of  his  shoulders. 

"Going  to  your  office?"  Rennison  asked. 

"No,"  was  the  reply.  "Home  will  just  about  meet  all 
my  requirements  now.  As  Horsford  has  said,  we  have 
earned  our  rest.'* 

But  when  they  reached  a  corridor  which  crossed  the 
one  they  had  been  traversing,  Rennison  said  abruptly: 

"I'll  not  delay  you  long,  Colonel,  but  I'd  like  a  little 
chat  with  you  before  we  part  for  the  night.  It  would  be 
better,  perhaps,  to  have  it  in  your  office." 

"All  right,  my  boy,"  Hawkshurst  assented  genially. 
"Come  right  along." 

As  they  walked  on  without  speaking,  the  heels  of  their 
shoes,  striking  the  marble  floors,  awakened  the  echoes  of 
the  gloomy,  faintly  lighted  corridors — echoes  that  sounded 
like  the  sullen,  hollow  knocking  of  spirit  hands  on  doors 
and  walls  and  windows.  Now  and  then  the  dark,  funereal 
figures  of  night  watchmen,  issuing  from  dark  recesses, 
would  peer  at  them.  They  were  quickly  recognized,  how 
ever,  and  the  departmental  owls  vanished  as  weirdly  &* 

152 


PITFALLS  OF  DEATH  153 

they  appeared,  to  be  seen  later,  sitting  in  window  em 
brasures,  behind  a  marble  column,  in  an  office  doorway, 
or  at  the  foot  of  a  flight  of  stairs. 

At  length  the  two  men  halted  in  front  of  a  big  door. 
This  was  unlocked  and  thrust  open  by  Hawkshurst,  who 
led  the  way  into  the  room.  He  was  about  to  switch  on 
the  electric  lights  when  Rennison  laid  a  hand  on  his 
extended  arm. 

"No  lights — just  now,  Colonel,"  he  said  quietly.  "What 
we  have  to  do  can  best  be  done  with  our  pocket  flash 
lights — in  the  dark." 

"As  you  please,  Rennison,"  replied  the  wondering 
Hawkshurst.  Then,  when  Rennison  had  closed  and  locked 
the  door  through  which  they  entered,  he  added:  "Now, 
what's  up?" 

"It's  just  as  well  that  no  watcher  outside  should  see 
any  sign  of  activity  in  here  to-night,"  Rennison  ex 
plained.  "Lighted  windows  would  excite  suspicion. 
Let's  get  into  your  private  room." 

They  had  entered  the  ante-room  of  the  Bureau  of  Mili 
tary  Intelligence,  and  from  this  they  made  their  way  into 
a  narrow  hallway,  and  thence  to  Colonel  Hawkshurst's 
private  office.  Both  men  had  taken  their  little  flashlights 
from  their  pockets  and  now  and  then  the  rays  of  these 
pierced  the  darkness. 

When  Hawkshurst's  office  was  reached,  Rennison  led 
the  way  to  a  wide,  leather-cushioned  sofa. 

"Now,  let's  sit  down,"  he  said. 

When  both  were  seated,  Rennison,  in  the  darkness,  drew 
out  his  pocketbook. 

"A  little  of  that  light  of  yours,  please,  Colonel,"  he  said. 

A  moment  later  the 'ray  of  Hawkshurst's  pocket  lamp 
was  flashing  on  Rennison's  hands. 


154  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"What  have  you  there?"  Hawkshurst   asked. 

"The  papers  that  were  taken  from  Channing's  body 
this  afternoon,"  Rennison  answered. 

"But — but  didn't  you  give  them  to  Horsford?"  Hawks- 
hurst  faltered. 

"No.  The  papers  I  gave  to  Horsford  may  deceive  him 
for  a  day  or  two,  but  they  are  not  even  copies  of  the 
originals,  which  are  here."  And,  as  he  spoke,  he  took 
from  the  pocketbook  the  sheets  of  tissue  paper  he  had 
found  in  Storrow's  cane. 

"But — Rennison!"  protested  the  bewildered  chief  of 
the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence.  "What,  in  Heaven's 
name,  is  the  purpose  of  this  deception?  What  do  you 
mean  by ?" 

"I  mean  that,  at  this  hour,  you  and  Towndrow  are  the 
only  persons  in  Washington  I  am  willing  to  trust,"  Ren 
nison  replied.  "I  think  Merschon  is  all  right,  but — well, 
there  is  nothing  that  it  is  necessary  to  put  up  to  Merschon 
now.  These  papers,  however,  must  be  kept  safely,  and 
in  my  possession  they  can  no  longer  be  regarded  as  safe. 
You  must  take  them  and  put  them  in  the  safest  place  you 
know — in  one  of  the  boxes  behind  B  Panel — the  secret 
of  which  is  known  only  to  you  and  me." 

Hawkshurst,  too  dazed  to  reply,  was  silent.  Mechan 
ically  his  fingers  closed  on  the  sheets  Rennison  thrust 
into  one  of  his  hands. 

"You  will  do  this — at  once?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Certainly,  Rennison — since  you  ask  it,"  Hawkshurst 
muttered. 

"As  quickly  as  you  can,  then,"  said  Rennison  with  a 
note  of  impatience  in  his  voice.  "The  sooner  we  get  out 
of  here  the  better." 

Hawkshurst  rose  and  crossed  the  room. 


PITFALLS  OF  DEATH  155 

"There's  no  light  coming  from  outside,  Rennison,  but 
I  think  I  can  make  out  without  a  spark,"  he  said  quietly. 

To  the  eyes  of  Rennison,  still  seated  on  the  sofa,  the 
figure  of  Hawkshurst  no  longer  was  visible.  In  the  course 
of  the  next  two  minutes  the  silence  of  the  room  was  broken 
only  by  a  series  of  faint  clicks  and  rattles  which  emanated 
from  the  wall  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  apartment. 
Then  Hawkshurst  returned  to  where  he  had  left  his  com 
panion. 

"All  right,  Rennison,"  he  said.     "It's  done." 

"Behind  B?"  Rennison  asked,  as  he  rose. 

"Yes — in  number  five." 

VGood,"  Rennison  muttered.     "Well,  then,  let's  go." 

But,  as  he  started  toward  the  door,  Hawkshurst 
plucked  his  sleeve. 

"You  have  some  reason  for  distrusting  Horsford?"  the 
Colonel  asked. 

Rennison  hesitated. 

"No — no  reason,"  he  answered  abstractedly.  "It's  only 
what  might  be  called  a  'hunch' — that's  all." 

"Acting  on  a  'hunch'  in  an  affair  so  serious  as  this  is 
risky  business,  my  boy,"  Hawkshurst  cautioned.  "It  is 
a  Navy  Department  case.  We  in  the  War  Department 
were  called  in  as  outsiders.  The  papers  you  recovered 
were  the  property  of  the  Navy  Department,  and,  in  its 
relations  with  us,  Assistant  Secretary  Horsford  is  its 
representative.  Morally,  as  well  as  technically,  we  should 
not  deceive  him.  Only  the  soundest  kind  of  a  reason — • 
certainly  no  mere  'hunch' — could  justify  us  in  doing  what 
we  are  doing  now." 

"You  may  be  right,  Colonel,"  said  Rennison  moodily. 
"But — well,  we  must  not  waste  time  that  may  be  precious. 
Let  us  go." 


156  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Slowly  and  silently,  with  Rennison  in  the  lead,  they 
returned  to  the  corridor.  Not  until  they  reached  the 
entrance  to  the  building  did  Hawkshurst  speak. 

"I  don't  approve  this  chance  you  are  taking,  Rennison," 
he  said  gruffly.  "It  is  too  irregular.  Whether  you  win 
or  lose,  you  are  open  to  censure — both  of  us,  in  fact. 
It  is  unnecessary,  of  course,  for  me  to  tell  you  that  I  hope 
your  'hunch'  is  proved  to  be  absurd.  The  fact  remains, 
however,  that  you  got  Reifsnyder — a  Naval  officer — an 
Annapolis  man.  It  is  true,  too,  that  the  man  you  now 
suspect  is,  according  to  our  view,  considerably  less  than 
that — being  only  a  civilian.  But  I  hope  you  are  wrong. 
I  believe  we  are  riding  for  a  fall.  Good-night." 

Thus  speaking,  he  thrust  open  the  door,  waved  a  hand 
and  hurried  down  the  steps  to  the  street,  where  his  touring 
car  awaited  him. 

As  Rennison  halted  outside  the  entrance,  two  figures 
that  had  been  standing  in  the  shadow  of  a  stone  column 
approached  him.  He  recognized  Towndrow  and  Coughlin. 

"What's  keeping  you,  Coughlin?"  Rennison  asked  with 
an  affectation  of  geniality.  "You  left  more  than  a  quar 
ter  of  an  hour  ago." 

"Oh,  I  jollied  one  of  your  watchmen  into  letting  me 
make  a  call  on  a  department  phone,"  Coughlin  replied 
airily.  "I've  had  a  long  day  of  it,  and  I  wanted  to  report 
to  headquarters  by  wire  instead  of  going  around  myself. 
It's  all  right  now,  and  I'm  headed  for  home.  I'll  walk 
with  you  as  far  as  the  Avenue." 

Rennison,  hesitating,  frowned  as  he  glanced  at  the 
sullen  face  of  Towndrow. 

"All  right,"  he  muttered.     "Has  Merschon  gone?" 

"Yes — five  minutes  ago,"  replied  Towndrow. 

"And  Horsford?" 


PITFALLS  OF  DEATH  157 

"Not  yet." 

"Looks  like  we  are  going  to  get  a  bit  of  a  shower," 
Coughlin  remarked  as  they  descended  the  steps  to  the 
street. 

His  companions,  walking  a  little  behind  him,  were 
silent. 

"Is  that  limousine  waiting  at  the  corner  for  you,  Cap 
tain?"  the  detective  asked. 

"I  think  so,"  Rennison  replied.  "A  friend  of  mine  said 
he  would  wait  for  me  there." 

When  the  corner  was  reached,  Coughlin  again  bade 
Rennison  and  Towndrow  good-night,  and  strode  quickly 
across  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 

"Confound  the  fellow !"  Rennison  muttered.  "There 
was  something  I  wanted  to  say  to  you  before  I  reached 
this  car.  However,  this  will  get  us  away  from  here. 
Then  we  must  get  another." 

"We!"  growled  Towndrow. 

"Yes,  Towndrow.  We've  passed  only  the  first  mile 
stone  on  the  road  we  began  to  travel  when  we  set  out 
together  for  the  Weymouthshire.  The  going  will  be 
pretty  hard  before  we  pass  the  next  one,  but  we've  got 
to  keep  together." 

Towndrow  was  about  to  reply  when  the  chauffeur  of 
the  limousine,  marking  their  approach,  stepped  from  the 
front  of  the  vehicle  and  raised  a  hand  to  his  cap.  Ren-* 
nison  nodded,  and  the  man  threw  open  the  door. 

"Captain  Rennison  is  here,  sir,"  he  said. 

As  the  man  drew  back,  Rennison,  advancing,  thrust  his 
head  through  the  door. 

"Did  I  keep  you  waiting  long,  Storrow?"  he  asked  cheer- 
fully. 

There  was  no   answer.     Rennison  saw  his   friend  was 


158  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

sitting  well  back  on  the  seat,  and  that  his  chin  was  on 
his  breast.  The  brim  of  his  Panama  hat  was  drawn  well 
down  on  his  forehead. 

"He's  a  bit  tired,  I  guess,  and  has  fallen  asleep,"  the 
chauffeur  suggested. 

"Storrow,  old  man — wake  up !"  called  Rennison,  and, 
as  he  spoke,  he  grasped  one  of  the  shoulders  of  the  idler. 

But  Storrow  didn't  wake.  As  Rennison  shook  him,  his 
figure  lurched  forward  and  would  have  fallen  to  the  floor 
of  the  car  had  Rennison  not  grasped  it  with  all  his 
strength. 

"Storrow!"  Rennison  repeated,  as  he  thrust  the  inert 
figure  back  upon  the  seat. 

The  Army  officer  moved  a  switch  which  lighted  the  lamp 
inside  the  car;  then,  leaning  forward,  he  looked  into  the 
face  of  his  friend.  With  a  low  exclamation  of  horror 
he  shrank  back  from  the  open,  dull-glazed  eyes  of  the 
man  who,  only  a  few  hours  before,  had  confessed  his  love 
for  Miriam  Warburton — the  "Scarlet  Tanager." 

"God!"  Rennison  muttered  hoarsely.  "God!  He's 
dead!" 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  ENEMY'S  HOUR. 

"DEAD  !"  exclaimed  the  startled  chauffeur,  and,  as 
Rennison  slowly  backed  out  of  the  door  of  the  limousine, 
the  wondering  man,  shouldering  past  him,  peered  within. 

"What's  happened,  Captain?"  Towndrow  asked,  moving 
closer. 

To  the  question  of  the  Secret  Service  man  Rennison 
made  no  answer.  Slowly  the  expression  of  horror  was 
fading  from  his  eyes.  His  face  was  white  and  stern  as 
he  stepped  toward  the  rear  of  the  limousine.  For  several 
moments  he  fumbled  in  one  of  the  outside  pockets  of  his 
coat,  then  from  this  he  drew  a  police  whistle,  which  he 
placed  to  his  lips. 

Scarcely  had  the  shrill  whistle  died  away  when  there 
came  to  the  ears  of  the  little  group  the  sounds  of  running 
feet.  Two  uniformed  policemen  quickly  reached  the  car, 
but  to  these  Rennison  gave  no  heed,  as  his  gaze  searched 
the  dark  shadows  of  Lafayette  Square.  Then  he  saw 
the  man  for  whom  his  whistle  had  been  sounded.  It  was 
Coughlin. 

"What's  the  trouble?"  queried  one  of  the  uniformed 
men. 

"Wait,"  directed  Towndrow,  extending  a  restraining 
hand. 

"What's    the    waitin*    for?"    growled    the    policeman. 

"You  blew  that  whistle,  didn't  you?     If " 

159 


160  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

He  stopped  as  Coughlin  reached  the  curb.  Rennison, 
advancing  to  meet  the  detective,  took  his  arm. 

"Coughlin,"  Rennison  said  quickly,  "when  you  left  us, 
I  told  you  this  car  belonged  to  a  friend  of  mine  who  was 
waiting  to  meet  me  here.  I  found  him  dead — on  the  rear 
seat.  His  chauffeur,  who  had  been  sitting  at  the  wheel, 
appeared  to  be  as  staggered  by  the  discovery  as  I  was. 
My  friend  was  Hayden  Storrow,  a  man  of  wealth  and  high 
social  position.  He — 

"I  knew  him  by  name  and  sight,  all  right,"  Coughlin 
interrupted. 

"You  do  not  know,  however,  that  he  was  the  owner  of 
the  Malacca  sword  cane  you  saw  to-night  in  a  certain 
house  which  you  had  occasion  to  enter,  and  that — 

"Good  Lord,  Captain!"  the  detective  exclaimed. 

"And  that  I  have  reason  to  believe  that  his  death  was 
not  due  to  natural  causes,"  Rennison  went  on.  "He  was 
a  guest  at  the  Guilford  reception  to-night.  About  the 
time  you  left  Captain  Merschon's  office  he  telephoned  to 
me,  making  an  appointment  to  meet  me  here  for  the  pur 
pose  of  taking  me  to  my  hotel.  He  also  told  me  he  had 
something  of  importance  to  communicate  to  me." 

"Another  Channing  case,  eh?"   Coughlin  muttered. 

"You  may  regard  it  as  a  continuation  of  the  Channing 
case,  and,  in  working  upon  it,  you  must  keep  in  view  the 
fact  that  it  has  certain  Government  aspects,  which  must 
not  be  revealed — even  to  your  superiors  in  the  Police 
Department.  Your  task,  for  the  time  being,  is  to  learn 
all  you  can  from  the  chauffeur  concerning  Storrow's 
movements  to-night,  and  to  report  the  case  to  Police 
Headquarters  and  to  the  Coroner." 

"But  you — you — aren't  you  going  to  take  a  hand  in 


THE  ENEMY'S  HOUR  161 

it,  Captain?"  asked  the  puzzled  detective.  "Since  he  was 
a  friend  of  yours — 

"I  can  do  nothing  to  aid  you  to-night.  As  soon  as 
possible  after  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  try  to  get  into 
communication  with  me  through  Colonel  Hawkshurst. 
That's  all  I  can  tell  you  now,  Coughlin.  The  rest  is  up 
to  you.  Handle  the  case  just  as  you  would  do  if  you 
had  none  of  this  information  from  me." 

"I  understand,  Captain.'* 

"Now  get  the  machine  and  the  body  away  from  here 
as  quickly  as  possible — to  Police  Headquarters,  the 
Morgue,  anywhere  you  please.  But  act  quickly." 

As  Coughlin  hurried  toward  the  limousine,  Rennison 
made  a  signal  that  brought  Towndrow  to  his  side. 

"This  is  another  murder — in  the  Seafalcon  game,  Town 
drow,"  he  explained.  "Storrow,  the  man  you  saw  dead 
in  that  car,  was  working  with  me  to-night.  Our  enemies 
are  striking  more  quickly  than  I  expected  them  to  do. 
You  and  I  are  on  their  death  list.  If  we  do  not  get  them 
first,  they  will  get  us." 

"That  so?"  drawled  Towndrow.  "Well,  I'm  always 
ready  for  action,  Captain,  but  I  hate  to  be  kept  guessing. 
Where  do  we  start  from?  Who  or  what  are  we  after? 
I'll  have  to  have  some  sort  of  a  light  if  I  am  going  to 
work  in  the  dark." 

"You'll  have  it — within  half  an  hour,"  Rennison 
answered  irritably.  "But  now  I'll  have  to  get  back  to  the 
department.  You  must  keep  away  from  the  building — 
staying  near  enough,  however,  to  see  and  follow  Horsf ord 
when  he  comes  out." 

"Horsf ord!"  Towndrow  exclaimed. 

"Yes.     You "     He   stopped   as    a   taxicab   swept 


162  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

around  the  corner  and  headed  toward  the  front  entrance 
of  the  department  building.  "Hang  it !"  he  muttered. 
"That's  for  Horsford — as  sure  as  Kentucky  meadow- 
grass  is  blue.  We  must  follow  it." 

He  glanced  quickly  up  and  down  the  Avenue.  Several 
automobiles  were  in  sight,  but  the  speed  at  which  they 
were  going  plainly  indicated  they  were  not  in  search  of 
fares.  The  two  uniformed  policemen  were  stepping  back 
from  the  limousine  in  which  lay  the  body  of  Hayden  Stor- 
row.  The  chauffeur  already  was  at  the  wheel,  and 
Coughlin  was  stepping  to  the  place  beside  him.  Rennison 
called  to  the  detective,  who,  with  a  foot  on  the  step  of 
the  car,  turned  quickly.  Rennison  ran  toward  him. 

"You  can  make  the  cabstand  at  the  New  Willard  in  a 
minute,  Coughlin,"  Rennison  said  sharply.  "Towndrow 
and  I  must  have  a  taxicab  at  the  southwest  corner  of 
Lafayette  Square  three  minutes  later.  You'll  get  one 
there?" 

"Sure,"  Coughlin  replied. 

The  detective  slipped  into  the  seat  beside  the  chauffeur, 
and  the  limousine  moved  off.  It  rapidly  described  a  semi 
circle  across  the  Avenue,  then  sped  past  the  White  House 
grounds.  At  the  bend  of  the  Avenue,  at  the  Treasury 
Department,  it  disappeared.  Again  turning  to  Town 
drow,  Rennison  said: 

"I  am  going  now  to  get  in  touch  with  the  telephone 
switchboard  of  the  War  Department.  This  switchboard, 
for  the  last  three  hours,  has  been  in  charge  of  Jimmy 
Boxfield,  a  War  Department  boy,  who  was  put  there  to 
night  in  accordance  with  a  request  made  by  me  in  a  note 
to  Merschon.  Jimmy  is  a  wise  lad,  and  has  been  keeping 
watch  on  certain  wires  for  me.  I  must  talk  with  him  at 
once.  While  I  am  in  the  building,  Horsford  probably 


THE  ENEMY'S  HOUR  163 

will  come  out.  You  will  follow  him  in  the  taxi  which 
Coughlin  is  sending  to  the  corner  of  the  Square.  Don't 
let  him  out  of  your  sight.  If  he  goes  to  his  home,  con 
tinue  to  watch  the  house.  You  have  a  key  to  the  police 
telephone  boxes.  At  the  earliest  possible  opportunity, 
get  Police  Headquarters  to  connect  you  with  the  War 
Department  switchboard.  Refer  to  me  as  Robinette,  to 
Horsford  as  Racecraft,  and  to  yourself  as  Grover.  Have 
you  clinched  the  names?" 

"Sure,"  Towndrow  growled.  "Racecraft  is  the  only 
one  we've  not  used  before.'* 

"Right,"  said  Rennison.  "The  position  of  the  taxi 
indicates  Horsford  will  leave  the  building  by  the  main 
entrance.  I  will  enter  and  leave  by  the  basement  door 
at  this  end.  Keep  in  touch  with  Jimmy.  I'll  be  up  with 
you  soon." 

"All  right,  Rennison,"  Towndrow  sighed  as  he  turned 
away.  "It  looks  as  if  we  were  in  for  a  night  of  it.  But 
I'll  see  it  through." 

As  the  two  men  separated,  Towndrow  headed  for 
Lafayette  Square.  Rennison  hurried  in  the  direction  of 
the  basement  door  he  had  indicated. 

In  response  to  Rennison's  ring  the  door  was  opened 
by  a  watchman. 

"Thanks,  Barlow,"  Rennison  said  as  he  entered. 

"You're  workin'  late,  sir,"  remarked  the  man,  to  whom 
Rennison  was  well  known. 

"True,  Barlow,"  Rennison  replied.  "But  it  is  essential 
that  no  person  other  than  you  and  myself  should  know 
I  am  in  the  building." 

"But   the   other   watchmen "   the   puzzled   Barlow 

began. 

"There's  a  telephone  in  that  storeroom,  is  there  not?" 


164  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Rennison  asked,  nodding  toward  a  door  a  few  paces 
distant. 

"Yes,  sir." 

"You  have  a  key?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Then  open  the  door  and  let  me  in." 

A  few  moments  later  Rennison,  closely  followed  by  the 
watchman,  entered  a  dark  room. 

"I'll  give  you  some  light,  sir." 

"It  is  not  necessary — if  you  will  show  me  where  to  find 
the  telephone." 

Barlow  led  him  to  an  instrument  which  stood  on  a  desk. 

"Thanks,  Barlow.  That's  all  now.  Just  leave  me 
here,  and  close  the  door." 

When  Rennison  was  alone  he  took  the  receiver  from  its 
hook. 

"Hello,"  called  a  voice. 

Rennison  softly  whistled  a  few  bars  of  a  popular  musical 
air. 

"Severn?"  queried  the  voice. 

"Yes,  Jimmy.     Anything  breaking?" 

"Nothing  I  can  make  out.  But  Joe  Slade  was  trying 
to  raise  you  about  five  minutes  ago.  I  couldn't  get  any 
one  in  Room  43X.  Joe  didn't  tell  me  anything,  but  he 
sounded  sort  of  anxious  and  made  me  ring  43X  again. 
When  I  told  him  there  was  nothing  doing,  I  heard  him 
swear.  Then  he  hung  up.** 

"Jimmy,  for  some  hours  to  come,  Fm  Robinette,  Town- 
drow  is  Grover,  and — get  this,  Jimmy — Horsford  is  Race- 
craft." 

"Spell  that  last,  will  you?"  Jimmy  asked. 

Rennison  did  so,  then  added: 

"For  several  minutes  he  has  been  in  Public  Booth  25." 


THE  ENEMY'S  HOUR  165 

"Oh,  that's  the  chap,  hey!"  Jimmy  exclaimed.  "I 
wondered  who  it  was.  He  called  'Unlist  91.' ' 

"That's  his  residence." 

"Well,  he  got  it.  Then  there  was  a  wait.  After  a  bi£ 
there  came  a  call  for  'War  Public  25.'  It  was  from 
Baltimore.  The  fellow  was  waiting  in  the  booth,  all 
right." 

"Did  you  listen  in?" 

"No,  sir.  It  was  just  before  Joe  called  up.  They 
were  talking  while  I  was  talking  to  Joe.  All  I  heard  was 
what  the  Baltimore  chap  said  just  before  he  rang  off. 
He  told  Racecraft  he  would  call  him  up  again  in  about 
ten  minutes." 

"Listen  in  when  he  calls,  Jimmy;  then  locate,  through 
the  Baltimore  office,  the  phone  from  which  the  Baltimore 
man  was  talking." 

"All  right." 

"Now  give  me  Joe — at  the  Columbia  Heights  number. 
Hurry  it,  Jimmy." 

In  a  few  moments  the  connection  was  made. 

"Did  Jimmy  tell  you  I  called?"  Joe  asked,  when  he 
learned  he  had  Rennison  on  the  wire. 

"Yes.     What's   on  your  mind?" 

"I  wanted  to  ask  you  if  there  was  any  use  in  me  and 
Phil  waiting  around  here  any  longer — now  the  woman's 
gone?" 

"What  do  you  mean  by  'now  the  woman's  gone'?" 

"Why,  she  went  out  soon  after  you  were  talking  to  her 
on  the  wire." 

"I  haven't  talked  to  her  on  the  wire  to-night — or  at  any 
other  time,  Joe.  What  are  you  driving  at?" 

A  low  exclamation  at  the  other  end  of  the  wire  was 
followed  by  a  short  pause.  Then  Joe  spoke  again. 


166  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Along  about  three-quarters  of  an  hour  ago  a  District 
Messenger  boy  came  here  with  an  envelope  for  Miss  W.," 
he  began.  "He  said  he  was  to  take  it  to  her  apartment, 
and  he  went  right  up.  Three  or  four  minutes  later  he 
was  down  again.  I  saw  his  number  was  917,  but  didn't 
interfere  with  him,  having  in  mind  what  you  said — that 
the  woman  was  not  to  get  the  impression  that  she  was 
being  watched." 

"All  right,  Joe,"  Rennison  muttered. 

"Nearly  half  an  hour  later  there  was  a  call  at  the 
switchboard  for  Miss  M.'s  apartment.  Phil  made  the 
connection  and  listened  in.  The  voice  was  a  man's — • 
sounded  like  yours.  It  said,  'Is  that  Miss  Warburton?' 
She  answered  'Yes.'  Then  the  man  said,  'This  is  Ren 
nison.  Did  you  get  my  note?*  'Yes,'  said  she.  'You'll 
find  a  touring  car  at  the  door  in  five  minutes,'  he  said. 
'I  will  not  be  in  it,  but  the  driver  has  his  instructions, 
and  will  pick  me  up  a  little  farther  on.  Are  you  ready 
to  leave?'  'Yes,'  she  replied.  'Good,'  said  he.  'Take  a 
raincoat  with  you,  for  it  looks  like  rain.  Do  not  expect 
another  call  from  me.  The  car  will  be  at  the  door  in  five 
minutes.  Get  right  in.  We  must  act  quickly.'  That 
was  all  that  was  said." 

"You  saw  her  leave?" 

"Yes,  sir.  In  five  minutes  she  came  down  to  the  hall 
and  went  to  the  door.  Just  then  a  touring  car  slowed 
down  in  front  of  the  place.  I  followed  her  out.  'Is  this 
car  for  me?'  she  asked  the  chauffeur.  'It's  for  Miss 
Warburton,  ma'am,'  said  the  man.  'I  am  Miss  War- 
burton,'  she  replied,  and  got  in.  It  went  east." 

"Did  you  get  the  number  of  the  car?" 

"Yes.  It  was  DC-BY40,634 — a  black-bodied  Bevel- 
stoke  twin  six.  The  chauffeur  was  a  husky-looking  chap 


THE  ENEMY'S  HOUR  167 

of  about  twenty-five,  with  dark  hair  and  a  little  mustache. 
He  wore  a  brown  leather  cap  and  a  dark  weathercoat." 

"How  was  Miss  Warburton  dressed?" 

"Small  black  hat,  with  a  little  purple  feather  on  the 
left  side.  She  wore  a  snugly  fitting  black  suit,  with  short 
skirt  and  jacket.  She  carried  a  brown  raincoat  and  a 
brown  automobile  veil.  She  looked  sort  of  pale  and 
worried,  and  her  hair  was  a  bit  mussed." 

"All  right,  Joe,"  Rennison  muttered. 

"What  do  you  want  me  to  do  now?"  Joe  asked 
anxiously. 

"Stay  where  you  are  and  await  developments.  Watch 
all  telephone  calls  for  Miss  W.'s  apartment.  Report  to 
Colonel  Hawkshurst  at  nine  o'clock.  He  will  send  a  relief 
and  will  put  you  in  touch  with  me." 

"I  suppose  I've  bungled  things  somehow,"  Joe  grumbled. 

"Between  us  we've  made  a  sad  hash  of  it,"  Rennison 
replied.  "The  fault  appears  to  be  mine,  however.  Yes, 
Joe,  there's  going  to  be  the  devil  to  pay.  But — well,  I 
wasn't  looking  for  further  developments  in  that  direction 
to-night.  As  I  have  said,  the  fault  is  mine.  We'll  have 
to  make  the  best  of  it.  That's  all.  Good-night." 

Rennison  thrust  down  the  receiver  hook,  and  a  few 
moments  later  released  it. 

"Hang  up,"  directed  the  voice  of  Jimmy.  "Something 
doing.  I'll  call  you." 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE  BREATH  OF  FAILURE* 

RENNISON  replaced  the  receiver  on  the  hook  and  waited. 
Nervy  and  resourceful  as  he  was,  he  was  becoming  more 
and  more  conscious  of  a  sense  of  failure.  The  death  of 
Storrow  had  fairly  dazed  him,  and  he  was  still  combatting 
the  depression  resulting  from  this  when  Slade  had  in 
formed  him  that,  yielding  to  representations  of  some  un 
identified  enemy  who  was  masquerading  as  Rennison, 
the  actress  had  been  lured  from  her  apartment,  under 
the  very  eyes  of  Rennison's  assistants,  and  now  was 
in  the  hands  of  pitiless  enemies — those  who  had  given  to 
her  the  "flower  of  immortality"  and  who  had  so  myste 
riously  slain  Hayden  Storrow  while  he  was  seated  alone 
in  his  own  limousine. 

Rennison's  disordered  thoughts  were  put  to  flight  by 
several  faint  strokes  of  the  telephone  bell.  He  placed  the 
receiver  to  his  ear. 

"Hello,"  he  said. 

"Who's  that?"  queried  Jimmy's  voice. 

"Robinette." 

"Party's  been  talking,"  Jimmy  said.  "I  located  the 
speaker  over  another  wire  before  I  connected  him  with 
Racecraft.  He  was  in  the  Hotel  Flanders,  Baltimore. 
I'll  get  his  description  later." 

"Good,  Jimmy!     What  did  he  say?" 

168 


THE  BREATH  OF  FAILURE  169 

"1*11  read  you  what  I  wrote  down.  Baltimore  said 
'Who's  that?*  Answer  was  'Mr.  Horsford.'  Baltimore 
asked,  'Know  my  voice?*  Racecraft  said  'Frobisher — of 
course.'  Then  Baltimore  said  'It's  got  to  be  done.  The 
hour  is  three.  You'll  be  there  ?*  He  spoke  sort  of  angry- 
like — as  if  he  was  giving  an  order.  Then  Racecraft  said : 
'It's  after  midnight  now.  I  may  not  be  back  before  day 
light.  That's  fool  business.  You  know  the  kennel  is  wide 
open  and  the  big  dog  is  ranging  free.  We've  had  proof 
to-night  that  he's  getting  mighty  close.*  Baltimore  sort 
of  laughed  and  said :  'The  Government  is  big  enough  and 
strong  enough  to  protect  its  own.  Don't  be  afraid  of 
dogs.  But  make  no  mistake  about  being  on  hand  at  three.* 
Then  he  hung  up." 

"All  right,  Jimmy,"  Rennison  said.  "Where  is  the 
regular  switchboard  man?" 

"Sleeping — on  a  couch  over  in  the  corner.  If  he  was 
awake,  though,  he  couldn't  hear  what  I  said.  I've  been 
talking  too  low." 

"Well,  keep  charge  of  the  board  until  nine  o*clock. 
It's  a  long  drive  for  you,  but  you'll  get  well  paid  for  it. 
Let  it  be  known  you  are  there  by  Colonel  Hawkshurst*s 
orders.'* 

"Right,  sir,"  Jimmy  sighed.  "I'll  have  a  description 
of  that  fellow  who  talked  from  the  Flanders  when  you 
call  again." 

"Thanks,  Jimmy." 

Rennison  hung  up  the  receiver  and  groped  his  way  to 
the  door.  In  the  hall  he  found  the  watchman,  who  had 
admitted  him  to  the  room.  As  he  slipped  a  bill  into  one 
of  the  hands  of  the  watchman,  he  said: 

"Much  obliged  to  you,  Barlow*  But  not  a  word  of 
this  to  any  one. 


170  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Not  a  word,  Captain,"  replied  the  man,  smiling,  as  he 
nodded  his  thanks. 

Rennison  left  the  building  by  the  basement  door  he  had 
entered  and  hurried  onto  the  sidewalk.  The  Avenue  was 
deserted,  and  as  he  crossed  it  quickly  toward  Lafayette 
Square  he  listened  apprehensively  for  the  sounds  of  the 
taxicab  he  knew  had  been  waiting  in  front  of  the  build 
ing's  main  entrance.  All  was  still. 

At  length,  however,  he  reached  a  point  which  com 
manded  a  view  of  the  front  of  the  department  building. 
There  he  saw  the  taxicab,  standing  opposite  the  wide 
flight  of  steps  leading  up  to  the  main  entrance.  The 
lights  of  the  vehicle  showed  it  was  facing  Pennsylvania 
Avenue. 

Rennison's  next  thought  was  of  the  taxicab  he  had 
directed  Coughlin  to  hurry  to  the  Square.  He  had  not 
expected  to  see  it  in  full  view  at  the  corner,  of  course, 
and  for  a  couple  of  minutes  the  trees  and  shrubbery  of 
the  park  prevented  him  from  locating  any  waiting  vehicle 
on  the  street  toward  which  he  was  heading.  Not  until 
he  had  crossed  the  Square  and  was  about  to  step  out  on 
the  sidewalk  did  he  see  the  dark  outlines  of  a  taxicab  on 
the  further  side  of  the  street.  The  chauffeur  was  un 
known  to  him,  but  Towndrow,  seated  inside,  hailed  him. 

"Well,"  said  Towndrow,  "you've  beaten  us  to  it." 

As  Rennison  stepped  in,  the  chauffeur,  swinging  around 
on  his  seat,  addressed  the  Secret  Service  man. 

"It's  off,"  he  said. 

"Wait  until  you  are  sure  of  its  direction,  then  follow 
it,"  Rennison  directed.  "Don't  get  too  close,  but  make 
sure  it  doesn't  shake  you  off." 

"I'll  hang  to  it,  all  right,"  the  man  assured  him,  as  he 
peered  through  a  little  rift  in  the  foliage.  One  hand 


THE  BREATH  OF  FAILURE  171 

was  on  the  steering  wheel,  and  his  manner  was  alert.  A 
moment  later  he  was  in  action.  "It's  heading  along  the 
other  side  of  the  Square,"  he  said. 

The  car  began  to  move.  Instead  of  attempting  to 
make  a  turn,  the  chauffeur  headed  toward  Pennsylvania 
Avenue,  then  past  the  White  House  grounds,  and,  round 
ing  the  further  corner  of  the  Square,  moved  rapidly  along 
the  course  taken  by  the  other  taxicab. 

Rennison  and  Towndrow,  on  the  rear  seat,  saw  the 
taxicab  ahead  of  them.  Once  it  disappeared  around  a 
corner  and  the  chauffeur  of  the  pursuing  vehicle  put  on 
more  power.  The  leader  quickly  was  sighted  again,  how 
ever,  as  it  sped  on  toward  Thomas  Circle.  Just  above 
this  it  turned  into  L  Street. 

"He's  going  to  his  home,"  Rennison  said,  and  Town 
drow  fancied  there  was  a  note  of  disappointment  in  his 
voice. 

"Where  were  you  expecting  him  to  go?"  the  Secret 
Service  man  asked,  with  some  of  his  wonted  gruffness. 

"He'll  be  headed  for  Baltimore  within  twenty  minutes, 
and  we  must  follow  him,"  Rennison  replied  in  a  low  voice. 
He  then  left  his  seat,  and,  bending  over  the  chauffeur, 
gave  some  hurried  directions. 

The  car,  slowing  down,  turned  the  next  corner,  swung 
round  in  a  semicircle,  and  came  to  a  standstill  on  the 
further  side  of  the  street,  just  below  L  Street.  Rennison 
stepped  out  and  hurried  to  the  corner.  Looking  around 
this,  he  saw  that  Horsford,  having  alighted  in  front  of 
his  house,  was  paying  and  dismissing  the  driver.  As  the 
taxicab  moved  off,  Horsford  went  up  the  steps  of  the 
house. 

Scarcely  had  the  taxicab  disappeared,  however,  when 
Rennison  saw  the  Assistant  Secretary  descending  the 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

steps,  then  set  off  in  the  direction  taken  by  the  cab  he 
had  sent  away. 

Rennison  motioned  to  Towndrow,  who  quickly  reached 
his  side. 

"He's  probably  footing  it  for  another  machine  which 
is  waiting  for  him  somewhere  around  here,"  Rennison  said. 
"I'll  walk  after  him.  Give  me  time  to  reach  the  next 
corner,  then  come  after  me  in  the  cab.  Explain  to  the 
driver  who  you  are,  and  direct  him  to  cover  this  block 
without  lights.'* 

Towndrow  nodded.  Rennison  quickly  turned  the 
corner  and  started  after  Horsford. 

The  Assistant  Secretary,  after  crossing  the  next  street, 
kept  on.  Rennison,  confident  that  Towndrow,  in  the 
slow-moving,  darkened  taxicab,  would  keep  him  in  view, 
followed.  When  the  next  street  was  reached  Horsford 
turned  to  the  right.  Rennison  quickened  his  pace.  Just 
as  he  rounded  the  corner  he  saw  Horsford  stepping  into 
a  large  touring  car. 

Rennison,  hurrying  back,  drew  out  a  pocket  lamp  and 
flashed  it  toward  the  cab  that  had  been  following  him. 
In  a  few  moments  the  cab  came  up  and  halted.  Rennison 
leaped  into  it,  and,  after  a  few  words  of  instruction  to 
the  driver,  he  seated  himself  beside  Towndrow.  The  head 
lights  were  flashed  on  again  and  the  chase  was  begun. 

The  minutes  that  followed  were  uneventful.  Despite 
the  lateness  of  the  hour,  many  automobiles  were  moving 
on  the  city  thoroughfares,  but  the  driver  of  Rennison's 
cab  had  little  difficulty  in  keeping  in  view  the  car  in  which 
his  passengers  were  interested.  Not  for  a  moment  did 
Rennison  or  Towndrow  relax  their  vigilance  as  the  pursuit 
led  eastward  and  northeastward  by  turns. 


THE  BREATH  OF  FAILURE  173 

Not  until  Washington  was  behind  them  and  their  cab 
was  passing  through  Hyattsville  did  the  pursuers  breathe 
easily,  however.  In  their  minds  there  now  was  little  doubt 
that  the  car  ahead  of  them  was  setting  a  straight  course 
along  the  system  of  highways  paralleling  the  line  of  the 
railroad  between  Hyattsville  and  Baltimore. 

The  storm  which  had  been  threatening  for  several  hours 
now  seemed  about  to  break.  Moon  and  stars  were  invisible 
and  the  atmosphere,  which  had  been  humid  throughout  the 
day,  was  becoming  fresher.  A  northerly  breeze  was  stir 
ring  branches  which  for  many  hours  had  been  motionless. 

In  directing  Coughlin  to  obtain  a  taxicab  instead  of  a 
touring  car,  Rennison  had  in  view  the  greater  degree  of 
privacy  it  assured.  With  the  window  back  of  the  chauf 
feur  closed,  conversation  with  Towndrow  could  not  be 
overheard.  Satisfied  that  the  driver  was  keeping  the 
leading  car  in  view,  Rennison  now  closed  the  window. 

"Well,  Captain,  what's  the  game?"  Towndrow  asked. 

"It's  a  continuation  of  the  one  which  took  us  to  the 
Weymouthshire,"  Rennison  replied.  "I  have  reason  to 
believe  the  man  we  are  following  is  heading  for  a  Sea- 
falcon  rendezvous  in  or  near  Baltimore." 

"Great  Heaven,  Rennison !"  exclaimed  the  startled 
Secret  Service  man.  "Horsford?  It  is  impossible!" 

"You  would  have  said  the  same  thing  of  Reifsnyder  six 
hours  ago,"  Rennison  reminded  him. 

"True — but — but  how  long  have  you  suspected  this 
thing?  Do  you  mean  to  say  we  were  working  together 
on  the  Channing  case  under  the  direction  of  a  confederate 
of  Seafalcon?" 

"It  looks  like  it  now." 

"And  you  gave  to  him  the  papers  you  recovered  ?n 


174  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"No,  Towndrow.  Those  I  gave  to  him  may  deceive  him 
for  a  time,  but,  except  in  appearance,  they  have  nothing 
in  common  with  the  originals." 

"But  you  did  recover  the  originals?" 

"Oh,  yes.  They  are  safely  placed,  however.  It  is  cer 
tain  they  will  not  be  in  Baltimore  to-night." 

Towndrow  was  about  to  speak  when  there  was  a  sudden 
flash  of  lightning,  closely  followed  by  a  sharp  crack  of 
thunder.  The  cab  was  slowing  down.  Both  passengers, 
leaning  forward,  lowered  the  window  and  protested  against 
the  slackening  pace. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A   STORM-SWEPT    TRAIL. 

"WHY  are  you  stopping  here?"  demanded  Rennison  as 
the  automobile  stopped  under  a  wide-spreading  maple  tree 
at  one  side  of  the  road. 

The  chauffeur  switched  off  the  lights  of  the  car,  and 
Rennison  and  Towndrow  heard  him  swearing.  Lightning 
flashed  again  as  he  turned  in  his  seat. 

"What's  ahead  of  us  is  going  to  be  work  for  a  sub 
marine,  not  a  taxi,"  grumbled  the  man.  "This  storm 
is  going  to  make  it  a  case  of  submerging.  Them  fellers 
ahead  of  us  have  stopped  to  get  down  storm  covers  and 
make  everything  snug  for  a  stiff  blow  and  drivin'  rain." 

Looking  ahead,  Rennison  and  Towndrow  saw  the  man 
had  spoken  truthfully.  About  two  hundred  and  fifty 
yards  distant  they  made  out  the  red  tail-light  of  an  auto 
mobile,  which  was  standing  at  the  right  side  of  the  road 
way. 

"This  ain't  the  first  time  I've  driven  for  you  Secret 
Service  fellers,"  the  chauffeur  went  on.  "I've  never  had 
either  of  you  before,  perhaps.  But  you're  all  alike  in 
your  ways.  You  don't  trust  nobody  what  wants  to  help 
you.  You  think  the  only  way  to  get  a  thing  done  is  to 
do  it  yourselves.  But,  take  it  from  me,  gents,  there  ain't 
a  man  in  Washington  that's  got  a  better  eye  than  Sam 
Gulick  when  it  comes  to  trailin'  an  auto — even  when  it's 

175 


176  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

stickln'  to  crowded  streets.  There's  a  certain  private 
detective  agency  that's  kept  me  pretty  busy  at  this  sort 
of  game.  I'm  no  amateur." 

"That  assurance  is  good  enough  for  me,  Sam,"  laughed 
Rennison.  "I'm  glad  chance  led  us  to  a  live  wire.  Satis 
fied  that  you  are  all  of  that,  I'll  tell  you,  in  confidence, 
you  are  working  to-night  on  one  of  the  biggest  cases  with 
which  the  Secret  Service  ever  has  had  to  do.  The  three 
of  us  must  do  our  utmost." 

"I'm  on,  sir,"  Gulick  answered  shortly.  He  paused, 
then  added :  "They  won't  shake  me  off,  but  we've  got  to  be 
careful  not  to  run  past  them,  if  they  slow  down  after 
roundin'  a  curve.  If  they  get  an  idea  they're  bein' 
shadowed,  that's  what  they  are  likely  to  do — so  they  can 
see  who  is  in  the  car  behind  them.  Once  they  do  that, 
it's  goin*  to  be  hard  to  fall  in  behind  again,  without 
excitin'  suspicion." 

"You  are  perfectly  right,  Sam,"  Rennison  replied  ap 
provingly.  "We  must  be  careful  of  that,  of  course." 

Drops  of  water  now  began  to  patter  on  the  cover  of 
the  taxicab,  which  was  shaken  by  a  fierce  rush  of  wind. 

"It's  off  again !"  Gulick  muttered  as  he  once  more 
grasped  the  wheel. 

Gulick  put  on  the  power  and  the  cab  moved  forward 
slowly.  A  sharp  crack  of  thunder  followed  an  exception 
ally  vivid  flash  of  lightning ;  then,  driven  by  violent  gusts 
of  wind,  sheet  after  sheet  of  falling  water  lashed  the  creep 
ing  taxicab. 

Again  the  chauffeur  flashed  on  the  lights  which  had 
been  extinguished  while  the  cab  stood  beside  the  road. 
But  the  rays  of  these  were  so  dimmed  by  the  fury  of 
the  downpour  that  Gulick  was  unable  to  see  more  than 


A  STORM-SWEPT  TRAIL  177 

twenty  feet  ahead  of  him.  Once  more  the  two  men  on 
the  rear  seat  heard  him  swearing  quietly.  In  a  few 
moments  he  turned  his  head. 

"They're  hardly  fools  enough  to  drive  ahead  in  this/' 
he  said. 

"They'll  have  to,"  Rennison  answered.  "They  must 
be  somewhere  in  Baltimore  by  three  o'clock." 

Still  muttering,  Gulick  increased  the  speed  of  the 
vehicle. 

Rennison's  prediction  soon  was  proved  to  be  correct. 
When  they  reached  the  place  at  which  the  leading  auto 
mobile  had  been  standing  they  saw  it  had  disappeared. 

For  five  minutes  the  violence  of  the  storm  was  unabated. 
Though  the  road  had  few  turns  that  could  be  accounted 
dangerous,  Gulick  took  no  chances  and  the  car  moved 
slowly. 

At  length,  however,  the  wind  died  away  and  the  down 
pour  gradually  lost  its  vigor.  The  thunder  was  more  and 
more  distant.  The  lightning  ceased. 

"It's  only  a  shower,  after  all,"  Towndrow  muttered  as 
Rennison,  half  rising,  anxiously  peered  forward  into  the 
darkness. 

"We'll  soon  pick  'em  up  now,"  Gulick  said  reassuringly, 
as  he  increased  the  speed  of  the  machine. 

Rennison,  still  frowning,  reseated  himself.  He  was 
about  to  speak  when  he  heard  a  low  exclamation  from 
Gulick.  There  was  an  abrupt  slackening  of  the  cab's 
pace  and  the  lights  went  out. 

Then  the  two  men  in  the  rear  seat  saw  the  red  tail-light 
of  an  automobile  only  a  hundred  yards  ahead  of  them. 
A  moment  later  it  disappeared  around  a  curve  in  the 
road. 


178  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"It  sure  is  clearin'  all-fired  quick,"  the  chauffeur 
growled.  "It  might  be,  though,  they  had  their  back 
lights  out." 

"If  that  is  so,  they  saw  us  coming,"  said  Rennison. 
"If  they  saw  our  lights  go  out  immediately  afterward, 
they  must  know  that,  trying  to  conceal  ourselves  from 
their  view,  we  are  shadowing  them." 

"That's  one  on  me,  all  right,"  Gulick  answered  gloomily. 
"But  what  do  you  want  me  to  do  now?  Put  'em  on?" 

"Yes — and  keep  them  on,"  Rennison  replied,  after  a 
pause.  "You  may  need  them  more  than  you  did  before, 
for  it  may  occur  to  them  to  put  something  in  the  road 
for  us  to  strike.  Keep  right  after  them  now,  but  be 
careful  as  you  take  the  curves." 

"I'm  on,  sir,"  Gulick  answered  grimly. 

The  chauffeur  cautiously  rounded  the  curve  at  which 
the  leading  machine  had  disappeared.  A  short  distance 
beyond  this  curve  was  another,  then  a  long,  straight 
stretch  of  roadway.  In  the  distance  was  a  little  point 
of  light. 

"They  are  racin*  for  it  now !"  exclaimed  Gulick. 
"They're  goin*  to  try  to  shake  us  off.  But  if  they  knew 
the  brand  of  car  they've  got  behind  them ' 

He  put  on  more  power  and  drew  his  cap  lower  over  his 
forehead. 

"Keep  close  to  your  seat,"  he  warned.  "There's  goin* 
to  be  some  skiddin'.  We  ain't  got  no  time  to  get  on  the 
chains  now." 

"Might  as  well  leave  it  to  him,  Captain,"  Towndrow 
said  as  Rennison  sank  back  beside  him.  "His  eyes  are 
better  trained  to  this  sort  of  work  than  ours." 

"If  they  suspect  they  are  followed,  we  have  lost  our 
game,"  Rennison  muttered. 


A  STORM-SWEPT  TRAIL  179 

"Well,  now,  let  me  get  the  thing  clear,"  said  Towndrow, 
closing  the  window  behind  the  chauffeur.  "You  have 
told  me  you  suspect  our  naval  friend  is  in  league  with 
Seafalcon,  and  that  he  is  on  his  way  to  a  rendezvous  in 
Baltimore.'* 

"Yes." 

"Your  object  in  following  him,  then,  is  to  locate  the 
rendezvous  and  to  identify  the  persons  who  visit  it?" 

"Exactly.  But  it  is  clear  that  if  they  suspect  that 
machine  ahead  of  us  is  being  shadowed,  its  occupants  will 
not  go  to  the  rendezvous  until  they  are  assured  we  have 
been  thrown  off  the  trail." 

"True.  But  what  reason  have  you  for  suspecting 
Horsford,  Captain?  The  thing  seems  preposterous.  The 
manner  in  which  Channing  was  murdered  and  the  papers 
taken  from  him  seems  to  prove  the  innocence  of  Horsford. 
Horsford  was  one  of  the  few  men  who,  as  an  official  of 
the  Navy  Department,  knew  the  vital  importance  of  those 
papers.  He  knew  Channing  was  coming  from  New  York 
with  no  other  object  than  putting  those  papers  in  his 
hands." 

"Quite  true,"  Rennison  assented. 

"In  that  case,  why  should  Horsford  have  been  a  party 
to  a  plot  designed  to  frustrate  that  delivery?  Whether 
he  was  a  representative  of  the  Government  or  a  repre 
sentative  of  Seafalcon,  it  plainly  was  in  his  interest  to 
obtain  possession  of  those  sheets  with  the  least  possible 
delay,  was  it  not?" 

"No,"  Rennison  replied. 

"It  was  not?"  exclaimed  the  astonished  Secret  Service 
man.  "In  Heaven's  name,  Captain,  what  process  of 
reasoning  brings  you  to  that  conclusion?" 

"The  process  is  perfectly  simple,"  said  Rennison.    "Let 


180  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

us  assume,  first,  that  I  found  in  a  comparatively  trivial 
incident  something  that  caused  me  to  suspect  some  sort 
of  an  understanding  between  Horsford  and  Reifsnyder — 
an  understanding  that  put  both  in  league  with  Seafalcon." 

"Well?" 

"Well,  in  that  case,  it  would  be  essential  that  Horsford 
should  be  viewed  rather  as  an  agent  than  as  a  principal, 
would  it  not?  He  merely  was  acting  as  an  agent  for  the 
principal.  It  was  to  this  principal  that  these  papers 
were  to  go  ultimately — whether  they  were  obtained  by 
Horsford  or  by  some  one 'else.'* 

"That  is  plain  enough,  of  course." 

"Now,  as  we  have  been  informed,  several  officers  of  the 
Navy  knew  Horsford  was  to  receive  those  papers  from 
the  hands  of  Channing.  Horsford,  however,  is  only  a 
subordinate  in  the  department.  There  was  at  all  times 
a  possibility  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  might  take 
the  thing  out  of  his  hands." 

"He  is  in  a  Philadelphia  hospital." 

"But  he  is  convalescent — so  nearly  recovered  from  his 
operation  for  appendicitis  that  he  is  likely  to  be  back  in 
Washington  almost  any  day.  That  was  not  the  only 
possibility,  however.  It  was  not  improbable  that  the 
Secretary  would  decide  to  have  some  member  of  the  Gen 
eral  Staff  deal  with  the  matter — a  course  which,  to  my 
thinking,  would  have  been  the  most  reasonable  in  the  first 
place.  Horsford  is  only  a  sort  of  sub-caliber  man,  at 
best — a  round  peg  which  political  influence  has  thrust  into 
a  square  hole — and  I  do  not  doubt  that  he  would  be 
required  to  surrender  the  papers  a  few  minutes  after 
receiving  them,  had  they  reached  him  on  schedule  time. 
They  would  have  been  delivered  to  him  in  the  presence 


A  STORM-SWEPT  TRAIL  181 

of  others,  and  he  might  have  been  required  to  yield  them 
to  some  one  else  immediately.  If,  however,  he  had  been 
permitted  to  retain  them  for  a  few  hours,  any  accident 
that  might  have  occurred  to  them  would  have  exposed  him 
to  suspicion.'* 

"I'm  beginning  to  see  your  drift,"  said  Towndrow 
thoughtfully. 

"It  is  safe  to  assume,  therefore,  that  Horsford  would 
naturally  balk,  in  the  circumstances,  at  being  required  to 
receive  the  papers  for  the  purpose  of  losing  them — to 
Seafalcon.  On  the  other  hand,  Seafalcon  might  have  been 
unwilling  to  rely  on  Horsford  to  see  the  thing  through. 
So  he  decided  to  play  the  game  both  ways.  He  figured 
he  couldn't  lose.  Channing  was  to  be  murdered  and  the 
papers  taken  from  him,  in  accordance  with  a  plan  that 
seemed  reasonably  certain  of  success.  If,  however,  this 
failed,  the  papers  would  go  to  Horsford,  after  all — and 
thence  to  Seafalcon,  provided  the  situations  I  have  sug 
gested  could  be  avoided.  You  will  see,  then,  that  the  first 
plan  seemed  more  certain  of  success  than  the  second." 

"But,  despite  all  you  have  said,  Captain,  you  must 
admit  that  this  is  mere  theorizing,"  Towndrow  expos 
tulated.  "All  is  based  on  the  assumption  that  you  have 
had  some  reason  to  suspect  Horsford.  What  ground 
have  you  for  such  suspicion?  Why  are  you  so  certain 
concerning  this  rendezvous  in  Baltimore?  It  is  clear,  of 
course,  that  Horsford  is  heading  for  there — as  you  pre 
dicted  he  would  do.  But  how  did  you  learn  the  nature 
of  his  purpose?" 

"You  will  remember  what  I  said  concerning  the  decep 
tion  practiced  on  the  person  who  took  those  papers  from 
the  body  of  Channing.  It  was  to  Baltimore  that  person 


182      THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

was  summoned  to  receive  instructions  concerning  the  com 
mission  of  the  crime  in  the  Weymouthshire.  The  instruc 
tions  were  given  by  Reifsnyder,  himself." 

"Did  Horsford  appear  in  any  way  at  that  time?" 

"Not  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  learn.  But  to-night 
he  was  twice  in  communication,  over  a  War  Department 
telephone,  with  a  man  who  called  him  up  from  Baltimore. 
This  man  virtually  commanded  him  to  be  at  a  certain 
place  at  three  o'clock  this  morning.  The  location  of  this 
place  was  not  mentioned  in  the  course  of  the  conversation, 
but  it  was  plain  it  was  known  to  Horsford.  Protesting 
against  going  there,  he  explained  he  would  be  unable  to 
return  to  Washington  before  daylight.  This  led  me  to 
infer  he  was  required  to  go  to  the  city  from  which  the 
man  at  the  other  end  of  the  wire  was  talking." 

"But  what  first  led  you  to  suspect  that  Horsford  was 
a  confederate  of  Reifsnyder's?"  Towndrow  asked. 

"His  manner  gave  me  my  first  cue.  When  I  was  called 
into  the  Channing  case  in  the  afternoon,  he  appeared  to 
be  greatly  agitated.  Now,  the  fact  is,  Horsford  always 
has  been  a  singularly  cold-blooded  man.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  the  loss  of  papers  so  vitally  important  to  the 
Government,  with  the  mystery  incident  to  the  destruction 
of  the  Dragonfly  and  the  murder  of  Channing,  would  be 
sufficient  to  shake  the  nerve  of  almost  any  man,  no  matter 
how  well-balanced  he  might  be  in  ordinary  circumstances. 
But  it  seemed  to  me  that,  in  his  display  of  agitation, 
Horsford  rather  overacted  his  part." 

"It  didn't  impress  me  so,  Captain,"  Towndrow  said. 

"Then  there  was  another  series  of  incidents  that  struck 
me  as  significant,"  Rennison  went  on.  "Channing  left 
New  York  on  the  nine  o'clock  train  yesterday  morning. 
Half  an  hour  later,  the  Dragonfly,  off  Haynerville,  Long 


A  STORM-SWEPT  TRAIL  183 

Island,  was  destroyed.  This  was  reported  promptly  to 
Horsford,  who  knew  that  with  the  Dragonfly  was  lost  the 
only  completed  product  of  Channing's  invention.  At  that 
time  Channing's  train,  still  on  the  other  side  of  Trenton, 
had  not  covered  one-fifth  of  the  distance  between  New 
York  and  Washington.  Channing  was  carrying,  as 
Horsford  knew,  the  only  existing  description  of  his  device. 
Realizing  that  the  destruction  of  the  Dragonfly  was  not 
the  result  of  an  accident,  Horsford  surely  must  have 
suspected  that  the  inventor  was  threatened  by  the  same 
agencies  which  effected  the  destruction  of  the  vessel.  He 
had  ample  time  and  resources  to  warn  and  protect  Chan 
ning  during  the  remainder  of  his  journey  to  the  capital. 
Why  did  he  not  do  so?" 

Towndrow  was  silent. 

"Why  was  the  young  inventor,  unsuspicious  of  danger 
and  not  knowing  what  had  happened  to  the  Dragonfly, 
allowed  to  drift  into  and  through  spy-infested  Washing 
ton  without  any  Government  protection  whatever?"  Ren- 
nison  went  on.  "Horsford  knew  yesterday  afternoon 
there  was  not  in  the  United  States  a  human  life  more 
precious  to  the  Government  than  Channing's,  and  he  must 
have  suspected  that  there  was  no  life  in  such  serious 
jeopardy.  Why,  then,  was  he  afforded  no  protection?" 

"I'll  admit,  Captain,  your  case  is  getting  pretty 
strong,"  the  cautious  Secret  Service  man  said,  half 
grudgingly. 

"Horsford's  overacting  and  failure  to  afford  Channing 
protection  excited  in  me,  at  first,  an  interest  that  was 
scarcely  more  than  casual,"  continued  Rennison.  "But, 
as  Reifsnyder's  connection  with  the  affair  became  more 
and  more  apparent,  I  naturally  wondered  whether  any 
other  official  of  the  Navy  was  involved.  This  line  of 


184  THE  SCARLET  TAN  ACER 

speculation  made  me  cautious,  so  after  I  obtained  the 
sheets  which  were  taken  from  Channing's  body,  I  took  the 
precaution  to  prepare  substitutes  for  them — not  copies, 
of  course.  These  sheets  I  held  for  an  emergency.  It 
was  well  I  did  so." 

"Those  were  the  papers,  then " 

"When  I  returned  to  the  War  Department,  I  was  quick 
to  observe  that,  though  my  recovery  of  the  sheets  had 
not  been  reported,  Horsford  had  lost  much  of  his  former 
agitation.  When,  however,  the  death  of  Reifsnyder  was 
reported  by  Coughlin,  it  was  plain  he  was  hard  hit.  His 
agitation  then  was  not  feigned.  He  believed  the  sheets 
actually  were  lost.  My  suspicions  of  the  man  took  defi 
nite  form.  Distrusting  him,  I  gave  to  him  the  substitute 
sheets." 

"It  was  risky  business,  Captain,"  said  the  Secret  Serv 
ice  man,  with  a  dubious  shake  of  his  head. 

"So  Hawkshurst  said." 

"Hawkshurst  knows  what  you  have  done?" 

"Yes.     Before  I " 

Rennison  stopped  abruptly.  To  the  left,  and  a  little 
behind  them,  a  whistle  sounded  shrilly. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A   HALTED    PURSUIT. 

RENNISON  quickly  opened  the  window  behind  the  chauf 
feur. 

"What's  happened  now?"  he  demanded  as  he  saw  the 
will-o'-the-wisp  light  of  the  vehicle  ahead  again  had  dis 
appeared. 

"Traffic  officer,"  Gulick  replied.  "I  saw  him  half  ,a 
mile  back — lurking  by  a  crossroad.  I  slowed  down  a  bit 
and  didn't  think  he  would  follow  us.  There's  no  use  try 
ing  to  shake  him  off,  for  it's  probably  Delafield,  and  when 
Delafield  has  a  motorcycle  under  him " 

As  the  cab  came  to  a  standstill  a  sputtering  motor 
cycle  drew  up  beside  it. 

"That  will  do  for  you  people,"  said  the  motorcycle's 
rider,  as  he  swung  himself  to  the  ground.  "If  you  think 
you're  on  a  Vanderbilt  Cup  course,  you've  got  another 
guess  comin'  to  you.  Come  right  out — all  of  you — so  I 
can  look  you  over." 

"All  right,  Delafield,"  Gulick  replied  resignedly. 

As  the  chauffeur  alighted,  the  tall,  lanky  officer  eyed 
him  sharply. 

"Hello,  Gulick,"  said  Delafield,  and  there  was  an  accent 
of  surprise  in  his  tone.  "I'd  hardly  have  expected  a  fool 
stunt  like  this  from  you.  Going  forty  miles  an  hour  on 
a  public  highway  is  bad  enough  of  itself,  but  when  a 
fellow  does  it  without  chains  after  the  sort  of  shower 
we've  been  getting,  he  must  be  either  drunk  or  crazy. 

185 


186       THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

I'm  sorry  it's  you,  Gulick,  but  you've  got  to  take  what's 
comin*  to  you." 

"There's  nothing  coming  to  him,"  Towndrow  said  as 
he  stepped  from  the  cab.  "This  cab  is  in  the  Government 
service.  Already  you  have  delayed  it  too  long." 

Thus  speaking,  Towndrow  threw  open  his  coat  and, 
with  the  aid  of  his  pocket  flashlight,  displayed  the  steel 
badge  of  the  United  States  Secret  Service.  Delafield, 
leaning  forward,  looked  at  it  closely.  Then  he  drew 
back. 

"All  right,"  he  muttered.  "You  win.  It's  no  business 
of  mine,  of  course,  but  you  Secret  Service  fellows  seem 
to  be  having  some  sort  of  outing  to-night." 

He  was  about  to  remount  his  motorcycle  when  Town 
drow  spoke. 

"Stop — wait !"  called  the  Secret  Service  man ;  then,  as 
Delafield  again  turned  to  him,  he  added:  "What  do  you 
mean  by  that?  Have  you  seen  other  Secret  Service  men 
to-night?" 

"Sure,"  replied  Delafield.  "I  stopped  the  limousine 
ahead  of  you.  I  suppose  I'm  not  telling  you  something 
you  don't  know  when  I  say  one  of  the  chaps  inside  flashed 
the  same  sort  of  badge  you've  got." 

"You  say  it  was  a  limousine?"  asked  Rennison,  who 
now,  for  the  first  time,  stepped  out  of  the  taxicab. 

"Brown  limousine,"  answered  Delafield. 

"Did  you  get  a  good  look  at  the  people  in  it?"  Ren 
nison  queried. 

"Not  very  good.     I  saw  one  was  a  woman,  though." 

"What  sort  of  a  woman?  How  would  you  describe 
her?" 

"I  didn't  get  a  good  look  at  the  woman.  She  was 
young — somewhere  in  the  twenties,  I  should  say." 


A  HALTED  PURSUIT  187 

"Was  she  veiled?" 

"No.  There  wasn't  anything  over  her  face — or  her 
hat.  In  the  quick  glance  I  had  of  her,  I  saw  she  was  a 
mighty  pretty  woman,  but  her  face  was  rather  pale.  She 
wore  a  small  dark  hat  that  had  a  feather  in  it.  They 
might  have  been  black  or  dark  blue.  In  that  light  I 
couldn't  tell  the  difference  between  dark  colors." 

"Did  she  make  any  attempt  to  get  out  of  the  car?'* 

"No.  She  leaned  forward,  though,  and  took  a  good 
look  at  me.  The  man  sitting  beside  her  seemed  to  draw 
her  back." 

"Did  he  use  force?" 

"No — not  that  I  could  see." 

"What  sort  of  looking  fellow  was  he?" 

"Well,  he  was  a  square-faced,  clean-shaven,  good- 
looking  chap,  with  lightish  hair.  It  might  be  his  hair 
was  red;  I'm  not  sure  as  to  that.  He  wore  a  plaid  golf 
cap  and  brown  raincoat.  Inside  the  coat  he  had  a  Secret 
Service  badge,  and  he  flashed  it  on  me." 

"He  got  out  of  the  machine  while  he  was  talking  with 
you?" 

"Yes.  Whenever  I  stop  a  car  for  speeding,  at  night, 
I  always  make  the  people  in  it  step  out  so  I  can  look  them 
over.  If  I  don't  size  'em  up,  I  can't  identify  them, 
can  I?" 

"In  what  sort  of  a  light  did  you  see  them?" 

"I  have  the  light  of  my  motorcycle  fixed  so  that  I  can 
tilt  it  and  cover  the  whole  side  of  a  car." 

"The  woman  stayed  quietly  inside  the  car  while  you 
talked  with  the  man?" 

"Yes.  I  only  saw  her  once — the  time  I  told  you 
about." 

"How  many  persons  were  in  the  car?" 


188  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"The  woman  and  three  men.  Two  of  the  men  were  on 
the  front  seat.  One  I  didn't  see  plain  enough  to  identify 
if  I  were  to  see  him  again.  I  can't  tell  you  anything 
about  him.  I  got  a  pretty  good  look  at  the  chauffeur, 
though.  He  was  thickset,  with  a  small,  dark  mustache. 
He  wore  a  leather  cap  and  coat. 

"Did  you  get  the  number  of  the  car?" 

"It  was  Md.  942BX." 

"Were  you  told  where  the  car  was  headed  for?" 

"No.  When  that  badge  was  flashed  on  me,  I  asked  no 
more  questions.  The  fellow  got  into  the  car  again.  In 
a  few  seconds  it  was  off  like  a  streak." 

"Had  you  noticed  another  car  speeding  on  ahead  of 
the  limousine?"  Rennison  asked. 

Delafield  shook  his  head. 

"Two  or  three  minutes  before  I  held  up  the  limousine 
a  touring  car  went  by,  but,  though  it  was  going  at  a 
fairly  good  clip,  I  couldn't  quite  size  it  up  as  speeding," 
he  replied. 

"You  didn't  stop  it,  then?" 

"No." 

"Did  you  get  a  glimpse  of  its  occupants?" 

"No — not  a  glimpse." 

"That's  all,"  Rennison  said  as,  followed  by  Towndrow, 
he  reentered  the  taxicab.  "Thanks,  Delafield.  Good 
night." 

At  a  word  from  Rennison,  Gulick  again  sent  the  cab 
on  its  way.  The  chauffeur,  having  undertaken  to  keep 
the  leading  car  in  view,  felt  that  his  professional  repu 
tation  was  at  stake,  and  was  plainly  chagrined  when 
Delafield  had  revealed  the  fact  that  a  limousine,  instead 
of  a  touring  car,  was  the  first  vehicle  he  had  ahead  of  him. 

"That  darned  limousine  must  have  cut  in  ahead  of  us 


A  HALTED  PURSUIT  189 

during  the  storm,"  Gulick  grumbled  as  he  gradually  in 
creased  the  speed  of  the  machine. 

"Perhaps,"  said  Rennison.  "It  is  not  unlikely,  how 
ever,  that  it  was  the  limousine  we  saw  beside  the  road 
when  we  stopped." 

"You  may  be  right,  but  our  chances  of  getting  ahead 
of  it  aren't  any  better  for  that  long  talk  you  had  with 
Delafield.  If  you  fellows  had  been  satisfied  to  go  on, 
after  flashing  that  badge,  we'd  have  been  by  the  limousine 
and  had  the  touring  car  in  sight  by  now,"  the  chauffeur 
growled  disgustedly. 

"Don't  let  that  worry  you,"  Rennison  replied.  "The 
information  we  got  from  Delafield  more  than  compensated 
for  the  delay.  The  fact  is  I  am  rather  more  interested 
in  the  limousine  than  in  the  touring  car  ahead  of  it. 
Unless  I  am  greatly  mistaken,  both  are  headed  for  the 
same  destination." 

"Do  you  mean  that,  Captain?"  Towndrow  queried  in 
a  low  voice  as  he  and  his  companion  settled  back  in  their 
seat. 

"Yes.  Delafield's  description  of  the  woman  indicates 
she  is  the  one  who  took  the  papers  from  the  body  of 
Channing.  Before  we  started  on  this  ride  I  learned  she 
had  been  lured  from  her  apartment  by  some  one  who  led 
her  to  believe  she  was  being  taken  to  me." 

Both  were  silent  for  several  moments,  then  the  Secret 
Service  man  spoke. 

"Do  you  think,  Captain,  that  the  two  of  us  will  be  able 
to  handle  this  job  without  assistance?"  he  asked. 

"I  think  so,"  Rennison  answered  confidently.  "Our 
purpose  now  is  not  to  effect  a  round-up  of  suspects,  but 
to  locate  a  rendezvous  and  identify  the  persons  who  attend 
the  secret  meeting.  There  is  little  doubt  that,  following 


190  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

the  meeting,  Horsford  will  return  as  quickly  as  possible 
to  Washington.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  we  will  find 
it  desirable  to  follow  one  or  more  of  his  friends,  in  order 
to  make  identification  complete.  Our  course  is  one  of 
observation,  rather  than  of  action." 

Towndrow  lighted  a  cigar. 

"The  appearance  of  the  woman  out  here  complicates 
the  situation,  of  course,"  Rennison  went  on  meditatively. 
"There  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  is  in  danger.  She  is 
in  the  hands  of  enemies,  and  we  must  afford  her  pro 
tection." 

"Who  is  the  woman?"  Tondrow  asked  abruptly. 

Rennison  hesitated. 

"Miriam  Warburton,"  he  replied,  now  revealing  the 
name  he  had  guarded  so  determinedly  during  the  council 
at  the  War  Department. 

The  lighted  tip  of  the  Secret  Service  man's  cigar  sud 
denly  grew  brighter. 

"The  Scarlet  Tanager!"  he  exclaimed. 

"You  know  her,  Towndrow?"  Rennison  asked 
quickly. 

"No  man  ever  knows  a  woman,"  Towndrow  muttered; 
then,  after  a  pause,  he  added:  "And  the  Scarlet  Tanager 
is  the  biggest  puzzle  of  them  all." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  Rennison  asked. 

"More  than  I  am  able  to  explain — more  than  is  clear 
to  me,"  Towndrow  said.  "All  I  can  tell  you  of  her  is  that 
twice,  in  the  last  two  years,  men  of  our  service,  working 
on  important  trails,  have  come  suddenly  upon  this  woman 
— in  circumstances  which  indicated  that  she  was  involved 
in  a  conspiracy  against  the  Government.  Each  time, 
however,  a  halt  was  promptly  called  in  our  investigations. 
The  case  was  dropped  and  our  men  were  pledged  to 


A  HALTED  PURSUIT  191 

secrecy.  It  was  clear  she  had  the  protection  of  some 
one  'higher  up.' ' 

"What  was  the  nature  of  the  cases?" 

"I  have  told  you  the  members  of  the  Secret  Service  have 
been  pledged  to  secrecy  concerning  the  Tanager's  relation 
with  them.  The  cases  themselves  are  well  known  to  you, 
and,  inasmuch  as  we  have  to  do  with  the  Tanager  in  con 
nection  with  this  one,  I  think  I  am  justified  in  telling  you 
the  nature  of  the  others.  One  was  the  attempt  to  effect 
an  alliance  between  Mexico  and  the  colored  populations 
of  our  Southern  States  and  the  British  West  Indies.  The 
other  was  the  breaking  up  of  that  revolutionary  society 
known  as  the  Jupiterians.  It  is  clear  that  to  both  of 
these  plots  the  Scarlet  Tanager  bore  some  relation.  It 
is  equally  certain  that  she  was  not  working  in  the  interest 
of  the  Secret  Service.  We  virtually  got  her  with  the 
goods  before  we  were  called  off.  Both  plots  were  frus 
trated,  of  course,  and  I  always  have  suspected  that  you 
had  a  hand  in  the  extirpation  of  the  Jupiterians.  In  that 
case,  you  doubtless  know  more  concerning  the  Tanager's 
relation  with  it  than  I  do." 

"I  did  have  a  hand  in  it,"  Rennison  admitted.  "But, 
though  this  is  true,  I  will  confess  to  you  frankly  that  not 
until  after  the  murder  of  Channing  did  I  ever  have  reason 
to  suspect  that  Miriam  Warburton  was  in  league  with 
conspirators  or  was  a  Government  agent.  I  never  met 
her  before  to-night.  At  this  meeting,  however,  she  did 
tell  me  she  had  done  some  service  as  a  confidential  agent 
of  the  Government.  I  believe  she  spoke  truthfully." 

"But  she  did  kill  Channing?" 

"Yes." 

"And  you  did  not  get  those  stolen  papers  directly  frontt 
her  hands?" 


192  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"No.  I  obtained  them  before  I  met  her.  They  had 
been  concealed  in  Storrow's  cane." 

"What  relation  did  she  bear  to  Storrow?" 

"They  were  engaged  to  be  married." 

"And  Storrow,  having  lost  the  papers — from  his  stick 
— has  been  slain.  Now  the  woman  is  hurrying  on,  after 
Horsford,  to  this  rendezvous  in  Baltimore." 

"I  have  told  you  that  she  left  her  apartment  in  accord 
ance  with  what  she  believed  to  be  a  summons  to  meet  me. 
My  faith  in  her  is  still  unshaken." 

"All  right,  Captain,"  Towndrow  sighed.  "Your 
shrewdness  is  beyond  question.  But  in  dealing  with  this 
mystery  woman  you'll  require  more  than  mere  human 
shrewdness.  No  matter  how  shrewd  a  man  may  be,  he 
can't  tell  how  a  flea  is  going  to  jump.  It's  a  case  for 
the  exercise  of  a  sixth  sense.  I  have  a  premonition  that 
if  you  don't  keep  on  your  guard  this  woman  you  are 
trusting  will  double-cross  you." 

Rennison  made  no  reply.  Leaning  forward,  he  lowered 
the  window  and  placed  a  hand  on  the  back  of  the  driver's 
seat. 

The  car,  having  left  Laurel  behind  it,  now  had  covered 
more  than  half  the  distance  between  Washington  and 
Baltimore.  The  only  traces  which  remained  of  the  storm 
which  had  passed  a  few  minutes  before  were  little  pools 
of  water  in  the  roadway,  the  refreshing  odors  of  moist 
fields  and  woodlands  and  drops  which  were  flicked,  from 
time  to  time,  from  overhanging  branches  as  the  night  airs 
stirred  them.  So  fleecy  and  scattered  had  the  clouds 
become  that  they  failed  to  dim  the  light  of  the  half  moon. 

The  cab  had  been  speeding  onward  at  a  pace  that  caused 
it  to  skid  dangerously  as  it  rounded  curves.  Despite  the 
serious  nature  of  his  conversation  with  Towndrow,  Ren- 


A  HALTED  PURSUIT  193 

nison,  looking  ahead,  had  not  relaxed  his  effort  to  discern 
again  the  tail-light  of  the  car  which  had  disappeared 
when  Delafield  had  halted  them. 

"No  sign  of  them  yet,  eh?"  Rennison  muttered,  adj 
dressing  the  driver. 

"Not  yet,  but  if  this  pace  keeps  up  much  longer  one 
of  us  is  going  to  get  the  ditch,"  replied  Gulick.  "There 
isn't—  -  Hold  fast— hold  fast!" 

Again  the  cab  was  taking  a  curve,  and  it  seemed  plain 
that  the  driver  had  flung  discretion  to  the  winds  once 
too  often.  The  tires  lost  their  grip  on  the  mud-spread 
roadway,  and  the  rear  wheels  of  the  machine  swerved  to 
the  left  so  sharply  that  the  machine  appeared  to  be  about 
to  overturn. 

"Look  out!"  Gulick  shouted  hoarsely. 

A  dark  bulk  loomed  suddenly  beside  the  road  and  a 
collision  with  it  seemed  inevitable.  Two  or  three  violent 
jolts  of  the  vehicle  almost  flung  Towndrow  and  Rennison 
from  their  seat.  Then  the  swerving  ceased.  The  dark 
bulk  passed  behind  them  as  their  cab  moved  on  and  headed 
toward  the  middle  of  the  road.  In  a  few  moments  it  came 
to  a  standstill. 

"Close  call — that,"  Towndrow  muttered. 

Gulick,  shaking  his  left  hand  in  a  manner  which  indi 
cated  he  had  strained  his  wrist,  looked  over  his  shoulder. 

"There's  your  darned  limousine — ditched,"  he  growled. 
"Do  you  want  to  stop — to  look  it  over?  Or  shall  I  keep 
on — after  the  other  one?" 

"We'll  look  it  over,  Sam,"  said  Rennison. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

A  VOICE   IN   THE   WOODS, 

ALIGHTING  from  their  car,  Rennison  and  Towndrow 
glanced  quickly  toward  the  dark  object  which  their  skid 
ding  taxicab  had  grazed  only  a  few  moments  before.  In 
passing  it  they,  like  Gulick,  had  seen  it  to  be  a  limousine. 
From  where  they  now  stood  the  outlines  of  the  vehicle 
were  indistinguishable,  but  Rennison  estimated  it  was 
about  a  hundred  yards  behind  the  point  at  which  their 
own  car  had  stopped. 

Without  speaking,  Rennison  and  Towndrow  made  their 
way  back  along  the  road.  To  their  right  was  a  thick 
wood  which  was  separated  from  the  road  by  a  narrow 
strip  of  depressed  ground  and  a  stone  wall. 

"Look  sharp  and  keep  your  gun  handy,"  Rennison 
cautioned. 

The  two  men  had  proceeded  about  thirty  paces  before 
the  limousine  again  became  visible.  Its  lights  were  ex 
tinguished  and  no  voices  were  audible.  As  Rennison  and 
Towndrow  neared  it  they  moved  more  warily. 

About  twenty  feet  from  the  car  they  halted.  As  Gulick 
had  said,  it  was  "ditched.'*  That  it  was  not  overturned 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  at  this  point  the  ground  between 
the  road  and  the  stone  wall  was  only  about  two  feet 
below  the  level  of  the  road,  and  that,  when  the  machine 
had  skidded  onto  this,  several  stout  saplings  checked  its 
impetus  before  it  came  into  contact  with  a  sturdy  hickory 

194 


A  VOICE  IN  THE  WOODS  195 

tree,  against  which  it  finally  had  lodged.  Two  of  the 
saplings  were  broken  off,  but  the  body  of  the  limousine 
appeared  to  be  only  slightly  damaged. 

After  a  brief  survey  of  the  disabled  car  Rennison  again 
moved  slowly  toward  it. 

"Anybody  hurt?"  he  called.     "Do  you  need  help?'* 

There  was  no  answer. 

Closely  followed  by  Towndrow,  the  army  officer  kept  on 
until  he  reached  the  limousine.  The  chauffeur's  seat  was 
deserted.  In  another  moment  he  had  thrown  open  the 
door.  No  one  was  within.  Rennison  stepped  inside, 
stooping  as  he  moved  toward  the  opposite  door.  His 
effort  to  open  this  was  vain.  It  was  pinned  against  the 
tree  which  had  prevented  the  vehicle  from  toppling  over. 

Still  crouching,  Rennison  drew  out  his  flashlight  and 
passed  its  beam  over  the  seat  and  floor  of  the  car.  At 
one  end  of  the  seat  he  saw  a  gold-embroidered  bag  of 
crimson  silk.  A  little  thrill  passed  through  him  as  he 
remembered  that  he  had  seen  such  a  bag  lying  on  top  of 
the  upright  piano  in  the  sitting-room  of  Miriam  War- 
burton. 

Quickly  dropping  on  the  seat,  Rennison  opened  the  bag 
and  drew  out  its  contents.  These  consisted  of  a  small 
chain  purse,  a  vanity  box,  two  envelopes  and  a  pocket 
handkerchief.  Both  envelopes  had  passed  through  the 
post  and  were  addressed  to  Miriam  Warburton.  At  one 
corner  of  the  handkerchief  was  worked  in  white  silk  the 
initial  "W,"  and  both  the  purse  and  the  silver  vanity  box 
bore  the  monogram  of  the  actress  who  had  won  popularity 
with  theater-goers  as  "The  Scarlet  Tanager." 

Moving  quickly,  Rennison  dropped  the  several  articles 
into  the  receptacle  from  which  he  had  taken  them;  then, 
rolling  up  the  bag,  he  descended  from  the  car. 


196  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"What  have  you  found,  Captain?"  Towndrow  asked. 

"A  handbag  belonging  to  Miss  Warburton,"  Rennison 
replied.  "She  either  is  being  concealed  somewhere  around 
here  or 

Both  men  straightened  suddenly  as,  from  the  dark 
recesses  of  the  wood,  came  the  shrill  cry  of  a  woman, 
closely  followed  by  the  hoarse  shout  of  a  man. 

Turning  to  Towndrow,  Rennison  thrust  into  his  hands 
the  bag  he  had  found  in  the  limousine. 

"Take  this,"  the  army  man  directed  sharply. 

"Be  careful,  Captain,"  Towndrow  warned  him.  "Don't 
forget  there  is  something  more  vital  than  the  safety  of  a 
woman  in  this  business  we  are  on  to-night." 

"I  forget  nothing,  but — 

Again  a  shrill  shriek  came  from  the  wood,  then  the  voice 
of  the  unseen  woman  called: 

"Help— help  me— help!     Oh !" 

As  Rennison  turned  away,  Towndrow  gripped  one  of 
his  arms. 

"Be  careful,  boy !"  he  cautioned.  "If  they  are  not 
setting  a  trap  for  us,  I  miss  my  guess." 

"I'm  going  alone,"  Rennison  replied.  "Stay  here.  Fm 
likely  to  get  lost  in  there  unless  you  are  here  to  guide 
me  out.  When  you  hear  my  whistle,  sound  your  own. 
I'll  be  careful  enough.  Have  no  fear  for  me." 

Thus  speaking,  Rennison  shook  off  his  companion's 
restraining  hand,  then  ran  toward  the  stone  wall.  He 
quickly  leaped  over  this  and  disappeared  in  the  wood. 

Left  alone,  Towndrow  walked  slowly  around  the  car. 
In  the  course  of  his  survey  of  the  machine,  he  observed 
that  its  left  rear  axle  was  broken.  Now  and  then  he 
stopped  and  listened  attentively.  In  the  dark,  dripping 
wood  all  was  still.  At  length,  coming  again  to  the  road- 


A  VOICE  IN  THE  WOODS  197 

way,  he  glanced  toward  the  taxicab  he  and  Rennison 
had  left,  about  a  hundred  yards  distant.  He  saw  its  red 
tail-light  glowing  and  its  dark  bulk  faintly  outlined  at 
the  right  of  the  road.  As  the  Secret  Service  man  took 
a  position  beside  the  trunk  of  a  large  tree,  he  trans 
ferred  his  automatic  pistol  from  a  hip  pocket  to  the  right 
outer  pocket  of  his  coat. 

Meantime,  Rennison,  having  entered  the  wood,  pro 
ceeded  as  rapidly  as  possible  in  the  direction  from  which 
the  woman's  voice  had  come.  Over  the  soggy  ground  he 
moved  noiselessly,  but  at  almost  every  step  wet  saplings 
whipped  his  face  and  hands  and  spattered  him  with  rain 
water. 

When  he  had  advanced  a  little  more  than  two  hundred 
feet  into  the  wood,  he  halted  and  listened.  No  sound 
came  to  guide  him.  He  knew  it  would  be  idle  to  call,  in 
order  to  attempt  to  evoke  a  response  from  the  woman. 
By  revealing  his  position  he  would  make  it  easier  for  the 
party  he  sought  to  elude  him,  if,  indeed,  one  or  more  did 
not  turn  back  to  waylay  him  in  the  darkness. 

The  Army  officer,  now  moving  more  uncertainly,  was 
continuing  to  penetrate  deeper  into  the  wood  when  he  was 
brought  suddenly  to  a  standstill  by  a  hoarse  shout  that 
seemed  to  come  from  the  roadway.  This  was  followed  by 
a  pistol  shot ;  then,  from  another  point,  the  whistle  of 
Towndrow  sounded  shrilly.  In  another  moment,  Renni- 
son's  whistle  replied. 

One  whistle  replied  to  the  other  as  Rennison,  stumbling 
and  groping  and  lashed  by  unseen  saplings,  ran  back  to 
ward  the  roadway. 

Two  more  shots  sounded  in  quick  succession ;  then,  just 
as  the  army  officer  reached  the  stone  wall,  he  heard  the 
sputtering  of  an  automobile's  exhaust. 


198  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

The  sounds  that  followed  were  unmistakable.  The 
taxicab  which  had  brought  him  from  Washington  was 
getting  under  way. 

As  Rennison  leaped  over  the  wall  he  saw  that  the  point 
to  which  the  whistle  of  Towndrow  and  the  reports  of 
the  pistol  shots  had  guided  him  was  that  at  which  he  and 
the  Secret  Service  man  had  left  their  car.  On  the  further 
side  of  the  road  were  two  figures.  One  was  leaning  against 
a  tree.  Rennison  hurried  toward  them.  As  the  Army 
officer  drew  nearer  he  saw  Towndrow  and  Gulick. 

"Well,  Rennison,  I  was  right,  you  see,"  said  Towndrow. 
"Their  trap  was  well  set,  and  we  fell  for  it.  They've 
got  our  car." 

"What's  happened  to  you,  Gulick?"  Rennison  asked 
as  he  saw  the  chauffeur  weakly  trying  to  remove  his  coat. 

"He's  been  shot  through  the  right  arm,"  Towndrow 
explained.  "Soon  after  }TOU  went  into  the  woods  the 
men  Delafield  described  came  out  of  it.  The  woman  was 
with  them.  Gulick  was  standing  beside  the  car,  and  one 
of  the  men  ordered  him  away  from  it.  Gulick  showed 
fight,  and  shouted  for  help,  thinking  you  and  I  would 
hurry  to  him.  One  of  the  fellows  drew  a  gun  and  fired. 
As  Gulick  drew  back,  another  member  of  the  Tanager's 
party  dealt  him  a  blow  on  the  side  of  the  head,  and  he 
fell  into  the  ditch.  The  woman,  standing  in  the  glare  of 
one  of  the  lamps,  watched  the  assault.  As  Gulick  rose 
he  saw  her  running  to  the  step.  She  made  no  attempt 
to  get  away,  and  got  into  the  car  unaided.  The  woman 
Gulick  described  was  the  Tanager.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  that.  Her  calls  were  for  the  purpose  of  drawing 
us  away  from  our  taxicab,  so  that  they  might  seize  it  and 
make  off.  I  fired  two  shots  after  them,  but  they  did  no 
harm  at  that  range,  of  course." 


A  VOICE  IN  THE  WOODS  199 

"Well,  the  fellows  appear  to  have  attained  their  pur 
pose,"  Rennison  replied  meditatively.  "They  are  clever, 
but,  sooner  or  later,  we  will  come  up  with  them.  Mean 
time,  this  wound  of  Gulick's  must  be  dressed.  You've  had 
some  experience  with  that  sort  of  thing,  and,  while  you 
are  fixing  him  up,  I'll  see  if  I  can  find  another  car.  Wait 
for  me  here.  I'll  be  back  in  a  few  minutes." 

As  Rennison  hurried  off,  Towndrow  addressed  himself 
to  the  task  of  examining  and  binding  the  chauffeur's 
wounded  arm.  He  found  the  bullet  had  passed  through 
the  biceps,  but  had  not  come  into  contact  with  the  bone. 

"You  Secret  Service  fellows  do  get  caught  napping 
now  and  then,  I  see,"  the  wounded  chauffeur  grumbled. 

"Oh,  yes,"  Towndrow  said.  "We  are  not  supermen, 
but,  sooner  or  later,  we  land  the  chaps  who  get  us 
guessing.  That  is  what  we  are  going  to  do  with  this 
bunch." 

More  than  half  an  hour  passed  before  Rennison  re 
appeared.  He  was  driving  a  "flivver"  which,  he  explained, 
he  had  borrowed  from  a  family  that  lived  on  a  cross 
road,  a  little  further  on.  The  owner  of  the  machine, 
though  badly  ruffled  as  a  result  of  being  routed  out  of 
his  bed  by  a  stranger  at  that  hour  in  the  morning,  had 
yielded  it  readily  enough  when  he  was  informed  it  was 
required  by  the  Government. 

In  accordance  with  Rennison's  directions,  Gulick  took 
the  rear  seat,  and  Towndrow  sat  beside  Rennison,  who 
essayed  the  task  of  driving  the  car.  Heading  again  for 
Baltimore,  the  little  party  soon  was  under  way. 

"You  surely  have  no  hope  of  overtaking  them  now," 
Towndrow  said. 

"No,"  Rennison  answered,  gloomily.  "They  have 
reached  Baltimore  by  this  time,  and  our  chance  of  strik- 


200  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

ing  their  trail  again  is  so  slim  that  it  would  be  folly  to 
attempt  it.  By  making  inquiries  of  strangers  we  might 
spoil  our  game.  If  we  have  been  identified  by  those  peo 
ple  who  just  got  away  with  our  car,  it  is  probable  that 
they  believe  a  search  for  the  Tanager  led  us  out  here 
from  Washington.  We  must  not  let  them  suspect  we 
have  been  following  the  man  'higher  up.' ' 

"But,  since  the  trail  is  lost,  why  do  we  keep  on  toward 
Baltimore?"  Towndrow  asked. 

"It  is  in  Baltimore  that  we  must  start  to  work  on  our 
new  lead  as  soon  as  we  have  snatched  a  few  hours'  sleep. 
My  friend  Jimmy  has  located  the  booth  from  which  the 
Assistant  Secretary  received  the  directions  which  sent 
him  from  Washington  to  Baltimore,  and  it  is  essential 
that  we  get  a  description  of  the  speaker  as  soon  as  pos 
sible.  Already  we  have  descriptions  of  two  of  the  three 
men  who  were  in  the  car  with  the  Tanager.  We  may  be 
compelled  to  seek  the  cooperation  of  the  Baltimore  detec 
tive  bureau,  but  we  must  avoid  doing  this  if  possible." 

"What  are  your  plans  for  the  night  ?" 

"I  shall  put  up  at  the  Chichester.  It  is  a  cheap  hotel, 
with  a  somewhat  shady  reputation,  but  one  at  which  I  am 
likely  to  escape  recognition.  I  would  suggest  that  you 
go  to  the  Chelmford.  I  will  give  you  a  telephone  call 
about  six  o'clock.  If  you  hear  nothing  from  me  by  six- 
thirty,  call  me  up  at  the  Chichester,  where  I  will  register 
under  the  name  of  Severn.  Should  you  fail  to  reach  me, 
get  into  communication  with  Jimmy,  at  the  switchboard 
of  the  War  Department." 

When  Baltimore  was  reached,  Towndrow  took  Renni- 
son's  place  at  the  wheel  of  the  machine.  Two  blocks 
from  the  Chichester  Rennison  alighted  and  made  his  way 
to  the  hotel.  The  machine  then  headed  for  the  hospital, 


A  VOICE  IN  THE  WOODS  201 

into  which  Gulick  was  taken  by  Towndrow,  who  explained 
that  the  wounded  man  was  to  be  regarded  as  a  Govern 
ment  patient  from  whom  no  explanation  was  to  be  re 
quired  concerning  the  manner  in  which  he  received  his 
injury.  The  Secret  Service  man  took  the  machine  to  a 
garage,  and  then  hurried  to  the  Chelmford  Hotel,  where 
he  registered  under  his  own  name. 

Upon  reaching  the  room  to  which  he  was  assigned  at 
the  Chichester,  Rennison  lighted  his  pipe,  removed  his 
coat  and  spread  on  the  table  the  contents  of  the  handbag 
he  had  found  in  the  deserted  limousine.  From  the  two 
envelopes  he  drew  out  the  notes  they  contained.  It  was 
plain  that  neither  bore  any  relation  to  the  case  he  had 
in  hand.  One  was  from  a  woman,  apparently  an  actress, 
who  asked  Miss  Warburton  to  lend  her  $50.  The  other 
was  from  a  New  York  banker,  who  notified  her  that,  in 
accordance  with  her  directions,  he  had  invested  for  her 
$2,500  in  stocks  of  a  Western  copper  company. 

Half  an  hour  after  entering  his  hotel  room,  Rennison 
removed  part  of  his  clothing,  assured  himself  that  he  had 
bolted  the  door,  extinguished  the  light  and  stretched  him 
self  on  the  bed.  Ten  minutes  later,  fatigued  by  the  long 
mental  strain  to  which  he  had  been  subjected,  he  was 
asleep. 

The  Army  officer  was  awakened  by  the  ringing  of  the 
telephone  bell  in  his  room.  His  first  thought  was  that  it 
was  six  o'clock  and  that  the  desk  clerk,  in  accordance  with 
his  request,  was  giving  him  a  waking  call.  Then  he 
realized  that  day  had  not  dawned.  He  hurried  to  the 
telephone  and  took  down  the  receiver. 

"Hello!"  he  called. 

"That  you,  Mr.  Severn?"  came  the  query,  in  the  voice 
of  a  man. 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Yes." 

"The  night  clerk  is  speaking.  Mrs.  Severn  is  here,  and 
wants  to  see  you." 

Rennison  hesitated,  but  he  thought  quickly. 

"Mrs.  Severn,  eh !"  he  murmured,  wonderingly. 

A  woman's  voice,  so  low  that  the  words  were  not  dis 
tinguishable,  was  speaking  at  the  other  end  of  the  wire. 
The  speaker  apparently  was  addressing  the  hotel  clerk. 
Then,  now  clearly,  he  heard: 

"Is  that  Mr.  Severn?" 

"Yes,"  answered  Rennison. 

"This  is  Miriam,  George,"  the  woman's  voice  went  on. 
"The  car  in  which  I  started  from  Baltimore  skidded  from 
the  road  this  side  of  Laurel,  and  we  had  to  get  another 
one.  That  is  why  I  failed  to  meet  you,  as  I  promised.  I 
have  explained  matters  to  the  clerk.  Shall  I  go  right 
up  to  your  room?  It  will  not  be  necessary  for  you  to 
come  down." 

"Why — yes,"  Rennison  answered,  thoughtfully. 
"Come  up." 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

SPIDERS  AND   FLIES. 

THINKING  quickly,  but  moving  deliberately,  Rennison 
hung  up  the  telephone  receiver,  switched  on  the  electric 
light  and  put  on  the  garments  he  had  removed  when  he 
lay  down  to  rest.  Scarcely  had  he  completed  dressing 
when  a  low  knocking  on  his  door  apprised  him  of  the  ar 
rival  of  his  visitor. 

From  a  hip  pocket  of  his  trousers  Rennison  quickly 
drew  a  stubby  automatic  pistol.  This  he  dropped  into 
the  right  outer  pocket  of  his  coat.  He  then  unbolted  the 
door  and  opened  it. 

Miriam  Warburton,  with  one  of  the  bellboys  of  the 
hotel,  stood  at  the  threshold. 

"Hello !"  Rennison  greeted  her,  cheerfully.  "Come 
in.  So  your  car  left  the  road,  eh?  Too  bad.  I  couldn't 
imagine  what  had  held  you  up.'* 

He  drew  a  coin  from  one  of  his  pockets  and  gave  it  to 
the  bellboy. 

"Here's  a  half  dollar  for  you,  son.  Much  obliged  to 
you.  Good-night." 

When  he  closed  the  door,  he  bolted  it  again.  Then  he 
turned  to  his  visitor. 

"It  is  unfortunate  you  had  such  a  reckless  driver," 
he  said.  "Permit  me  to  congratulate  you  on  your  escape 
from  injury." 

She  did  not  answer.  Without  glancing  at  him,  she 

203 


204  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

slowly  unbuttoned  the  raincoat  she  was  wearing  and 
crossed  to  one  of  the  two  windows  of  the  room.  The 
shade  had  been  lowered  by  Rennison.  Miriam  raised  it, 
then,  after  fumbling  with  it  several  moments,  she  drew 
it  down. 

"A  signal,  eh?"  Rennison  muttered. 

"Yes,"  the  actress  answered,  coldly.  "It  is  known 
now  that  I  have  found  you  here — that  we  are  together." 

Rennison,  with  his  back  to  the  door  and  his  hands 
thrust  into  the  outer  pockets  of  his  coat,  was  watching 
her  speculatively. 

"And  how  are  your  friends  likely  to  profit  by  the  knowl 
edge?"  hs  asked  her. 

She  slipped  off  the  raincoat  and  tossed  it  to  the  back 
of  a  chair,  then  faced  him. 

"They  will  infer  that  I  am  in  a  fair  way  to  attain  the 
purpose  that  brought  me  here,"  she  replied. 

"Indeed!"  exclaimed  Rennison,  quietly.  "Would  I  be 
presuming  too  much  were  I  to  ask  you  the  nature  of 
that  purpose?" 

"Oh,  no.  I  will  tell  you.  I  am  here  because  I  have 
undertaken  to  obtain  from  you  the  sheets  of  paper  you 
took  from  inside  Hayden  Storrow's  cane." 

"You  have  reason  to  believe,  then,  that  they  still  are 
in  my  possession?"  Rennison  asked,  smiling  faintly. 

"Well,  I  hardly  know.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  you 
did  not  deliver  them  to  a  tall,  lean,  nervous  old  gentle 
man  who  thought  he  was  receiving  them  from  you  at  the 
War  Department — after  you  left  my  rooms." 

"You  look  a  little  fatigued — overwrought,  Miss  War- 
burton,"  Rennison  said  solicitously.  "Won't  you  sit 
down?" 

"Yes,  thank  you,'*  replied  the  actress. 


SPIDERS  AND  FLIES  205 

The  Army  officer  placed  a  chair  for  her,  in  the  middle 
of  the  floor.  She  nodded  an  acknowledgment  of  his  court 
esy,  then  moved  the  chair  toward  a  small  table  that  was 
standing  near.  Rennison  watched  her  curiously.  After 
seating  herself,  she  began  to  remove  one  of  her  long 
gloves. 

"Do  you  chance  to  know  the  name  of  the  'tall,  lean, 
nervous  old  gentleman*  to  whom  you  have  referred?" 
Rennison  asked. 

"The  name  of  the  gentleman  is  Horsford — Andrew 
Horsford — Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  you  know." 

"Oh,  yes — Horsford,  of  course,"  Rennison  said,  as, 
with  an  appearance  of  abstraction,  he  drew  a  cigar  from 
a  pocket  of  his  coat.  "Yes,  Horsford  is  as  you  have 
described  him — tall,  lean,  nervous  and  old — isn't  he?" 

He  was  about  to  return  the  cigar  to  his  pocket  when 
Miriam  spoke. 

"Smoke  it — please,"  she  urged.  She  laughed — a  lit 
tle  nervously — as  she  added.  "Tobacco  smoke  never 
annoys  me  at  all." 

Rennison  lighted  the  cigar  deliberately,  then  dropped 
the  match-stick  in  an  ash-receiver. 

"So  you  have  been  informed  that  I  met  Mr.  Horsford 
at  the  War  Department  to-night  and  that  I  did  not  give 
to  him  the  papers  I  took  from  Storrow's  cane,"  he  said. 

"Yes,"  the  actress  replied.  "But  won't  you,  too,  sit 
down?  Since  you  are  asking  me  to  put  my  cards  on  the 
table,  will  you  not  sit  opposite  me  while  you  look  them 
over?" 

Rennison,  puffing  at  his  cigar,  eyed  her  coldly.  This 
handsome  woman  who  was  facing  him  so  calmly  was  baf 
fling  him.  She  was  moving  as  if  she  were  sure  of  her 
ground.  It  was  plain  that  she  was  commanding,  rather 


206  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

than  inviting,  his  confidence.  In  a  vague  sort  of  way  he 
realized  he  was  surrounded  by  formidable  enemies  and 
that  he  would  be  required  to  meet  them  single-handed. 
On  one  of  the  walls  of  his  room  was  a  telephone,  but  into 
his  mind  flashed  the  suspicion  that  no  call  of  his  would 
get  further  than  the  operator  of  the  hotel  switchboard 

"Why  do  you  not  sit  down?"  persisted  the  actress,  and 
there  was  a  new  sharpness  in  her  tone. 

Without  speaking,  Rennison  placed  a  second  chair 
at  the  table,  then  seated  himself,  facing  his  visitor. 

Miriam,  having  removed  her  secpnd  glove,  now  folded 
her  bared  hands  on  the  table-top. 

"Well,  Miss  Warburton,  I  have  understood  you  to  say 
that  you  are  prepared  to  put  your  cards  on  the  table," 
Rennison  began. 

"Yes." 

"Then " 

With  a  little  gesture,  she  stopped  him.  Glancing 
toward  the  door,  she  asked: 

"Did  you  lock  the  door  after  you  let  me  in?" 

Rennison   nodded. 

"I  am  glad  it  is  only  a  one-door  room,"  said  Miriam. 
"Now,  let's  talk — quietly — very  quietly.  That  is  why  I 
wanted  you  to  sit  like  this — with  only  the  table  between 
us.  But  where  shall  we  begin?" 

A  new  light  had  come  to  her  eyes,  a  new  color  to  her 
face.  Her  manner  suddenly  had  become  confidential. 

"Well,"  Rennison  hazarded,  "suppose  we  take  things 
in  the  order  in  which  they  occurred — after  I  left  you 
alone  in  your  apartments." 

"Very  well,"  Miriam  assented.  Hesitating,  she  looked 
thoughtfully  at  the  table,  her  expression  indicating  that 
she  was  formulating  the  story  he  had  asked  her  to  tell. 


SPIDERS  AND  FLIES  207 

"For  nearly  two  hours  after  you  left  me  I  felt  as  if  I 
were  about  to  lose  my  reason,"  she  began.  "My  growing 
fears  and  the  feeling  that  I  was  completely  isolated  from 
all  my  friends  became  so  unendurable  that  I  had  about 
decided,  despite  the  lateness  of  the  hour,  to  telephone 
for  Marta,  my  maid,  when  the  telephone  bell  rang.  When 
I  responded,  a  man's  voice  addressed  me — a  voice  I  failed 
to  recognize.  Speaking  quickly,  and  a  little  huskily,  it 
asked  who  was  at  the  telephone.  I  replied  it  was  Miss 
Warburton.  The  speaker  then  informed  me  that  a  mes 
senger  boy  was  downstairs,  with  a  note  addressed  to  me, 
and  I  was  asked  whether  he  should  be  sent  right  up  to  my 
apartments.  I  directed  that  the  boy  be  sent  up  at 
once. 

"Two  or  three  minutes  later  there  was  a  ring  at  my 
door.  I  opened  it  and  saw  a  uniformed  boy,  who  gave 
to  me  a  sealed  envelope.  I  receipted  for  this,  and,  telling 
the  boy  to  wait,  I  opened  the  envelope  and  drew  from  it 
the  note  it  contained.  I  have  it  with  me." 

Thus  speaking,  she  took  a  sheet  of  crumpled  notepaper 
from  the  bosom  of  her  dress  and  passed  it  across  the 
table  to  Rennison.  The  army  officer  smoothed  it  out 
and  read: 

My  dear  Miss  Warburton:  I  have  reason  to  suspect  that 
in  the  course  of  the  night  you  will  be  disturbed  by  visitors 
who  must  be  regarded  as  undesirable.  In  order  that  such  a 
situation  may  be  avoided,  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  accept  my 
protection  for  the  next  twenty-four  hours,  and  to  be  governed 
entirely  by  my  advice.  I  am  confident  that  at  the  expiration 
of  this  period  there  will  be  nothing  more  for  you  to  fear. 
Meantime,  without  confiding  to  any  one  the  nature  of  your 
plans,  please  prepare  to  leave  your  apartment  house  in  a 
touring  car  which  will  call  for  you  promptly  at  12:45  this 
morning.  It  is  especially  desirable  that  you  enter  the  car 


208  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

immediately  upon  its  arrival,  in  order  to  reduce  to  the  minimum 
the  possibility  that  it  be  observed  and  followed.  I  would 
suggest,  therefore,  that  you  should  be  at  the  street  door  on 
the  minute  of  12:45.  The  chauffeur  will  be  the  only  person 
on  the  machine.  You  may  identify  him  by  his  action  in  con 
tinuing  to  adjust  his  cap  until  you  address  him. 

Yours, 
(Signed)        RENNISON. 


"The  note  was  not  from  me,  of  course,"  Rennison  said, 
after  he  finished  reading  it.  "It  is  plain  that  the  writer 
knew  you  were  not  familiar  with  my  handwriting,  for  he 
has  made  no  attempt  to  counterfeit  it." 

"It  did  not  even  occur  to  me  to  doubt  that  it  was 
from  you,"  said  Miriam.  "I  believed  that  your  visit  to  me 
was  known  only  to  persons  who  had  your  confidence." 

"So  you  prepared  to  act  in  accordance  with  the  in 
structions  given  in  the  note?" 

"Yes.  My  preparations  soon  were  completed,  but  be 
fore  it  was  time  for  me  to  go  to  meet  the  car  I  had 
what  purported  to  be  a  second  message  from  you." 

"Another  note?" 

"No,  it  was  not  a  note.  Half  an  hour  after  the  de 
parture  of  the  messenger  boy  there  came  another  ring 
on  my  telephone  bell.  Again  a  man's  voice  addressed  me 
— a  voice  that  was  rather  clearer  than  the  one  which  had 
spoken  before.  The  speaker  asked  if  I  were  Miss  War- 
burton.  When  I  replied  I  was,  he  said,  'This  is  Ren 
nison.  Did  you  get  my  note?*  Again  I  replied  in  the 
affirmative.  The  speaker  then  told  me  the  touring  car 
would  be  at  the  door  in  five  minutes.  He  advised  me  to 
take  a  raincoat,  inasmuch  as  it  looked  like  rain.  He 
cautioned  me  to  act  promptly.  I  did  not  doubt  the 
speaker  was  you." 


SPIDERS  AND  FLIES  209 

"One  scarcely  could  have  expected  you  to  doubt  it,  in 
the  circumstances,"  Rcnnison  muttered. 

"Five  minutes  later  I  went  down  on  the  elevator,"  the 
actress  went  on.  "As  I  passed  out  of  the  street  door, 
I  saw  a  touring  car  drawing  up  at  the  curb.  The  chauf 
feur  was  adjusting  his  cap." 

"One  moment,  Miss  Warburton,"  Rennison  interrupted. 
"Before  you  proceed  further,  you  might  tell  me  whether 
or  not  you  had  been  in  any  sort  of  communication  with 
Ha3Tden  Storrow." 

Miriam  frowned  slightly  as  she  replied: 

"No.  I  neither  have  seen  nor  heard  from  Hayden 
since  he  left  us  together  in  my  apartment." 

Shifting  his  position,  Rennison  stared  moodily  at  the 
tip  of  his  cigar.  Thus  far  he  had  found  little  time  to 
reflect  on  that  phase  of  the  situation  that  had  to  do  with 
Storrow,  after  the  idler  had  left  the  Guilfords'  recep 
tion.  The  Army  man  now  recalled  the  note  of  appre 
hension  he  had  marked  in  the  voice  of  his  friend  when 
he  last  had  spoken  over  the  wire.  He  then  had  explained 
he  had  something  of  the  greatest  importance  to  com 
municate.  In  the  circumstances,  the  loss  of  his  fateful 
stick  scarcely  could  have  surprised  him.  What  was  the 
new  development  in  the  case  that  he  had  been  so  anxious 
to  reveal  when  he  had  hurried  to  the  War  Department. 

Something  in  Rennison's  expression  apparently  piqued 
the  curiosity  of  his  companion.  Looking  quizzically  at 
him,  she  queried : 

"Have  you  talked  with  him  since  I  saw  him  last?" 

"Only  over  the  telephone,"  Rennison  answered.  After 
a  brief  pause,  he  went  on :  "But  all  this  is  immaterial  to 
your  story,  perhaps,  Miss  Warburton.  Pardon  me  for 
interrupting  you.  You  have  said  that,  as  the  automo- 


210  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

bile  drew  up  at  the  curb,  the  manner  in  which  the  chauf 
feur  adjusted  his  cap  enabled  you  to  identify  him  as  the 
man  who  had  been  sent  for  you." 

"Yes.  Approaching  the  car,  I  asked  the  man  if  it  had 
been  sent  for  me.  He  replied  the  car  was  for  Miss  War- 
burton.  I  explained  I  was  the  person  he  had  named.  He 
nodded  and  I  stepped  in." 

"Did  you  observe  any  person  other  than  the  chauffeur 
as  you  entered  the  car?" 

"Yes.  As  I  left  the  house,  I  was  followed  by  the  man 
who,  earlier  in  the  night,  had  taken  from  me  the  pistol 
with  which  I  had  threatened  you.  Knowing  him  to  be 
one  of  your  associates,  it  occurred  to  me  that  he,  too, 
might  be  a  passenger  on  the  car." 

"His  presence  there  had  the  effect  of  reassuring  you?'* 

"I  scarcely  can  say  that.  I  didn't  doubt  that  the 
car  had  been  sent  for  me  by  you.  The  appearance  of 
your  man  on  the  sidewalk  neither  disturbed  nor  reas 
sured  me.  I  accepted  it  as  a  parfect  matter  of  course.'* 

Rennison  nodded.     Miriam  continued: 

"The  car  sped  eastward  at  a  moderate  pace,  and  then 
turned  northward  along  a  road  that  was  unknown  to  me. 
At  length  it  slowed  down  in  a  sparsely  settled  district 
on  the  outskirts  of  the  city.  When  it  stopped,  the 
chauffeur  alighted  and  looked  up  and  down  the  road. 
I  opened  one  of  the  doors  and  asked  him  if  we  were  to 
meet  any  one  there.  He  seemed  a  little  reticent,  at  first, 
then  he  explained  that  another  car  should  have  been 
awaiting  us  there. 

"Signs  of  an  approaching  storm  now  became  unmis 
takable.  From  time  to  time  the  chauffeur,  stepping  into 
the  glare  of  the  headlights,  glanced  nervously  at  his 


SPIDERS  AND  FLIES  211 

watch.  His  manner  plainly  indicated  that  he  did  not 
want  me  to  enter  into  conversation  with  him. 

"From  the  time  you  told  me  Channing  had  died  as  a 
result  of  the  action  of  the  fluid  in  the  little  bud  I  caused 
him  to  pick  up,  my  overwrought  nerves  produced  vary 
ing  effects  upon  me.  Now  I  would  seem  to  be  on  the 
point  of  hysterical  collapse,  then  I  would  find  stealing 
over  me  the  numbness  of  complete  despair.  In  the  over 
whelming  sense  of  horror  which  oppressed  me,  all  fear 
of  bodily  peril  or  punishment  that  I  might  be  required  to 
face  was  lost.  And  so,  as  I  sat  alone  in  the  car,  my 
environment  had  little  place  in  my  thoughts.  I  believed 
you  had  sent  for  me.  Why  you  had  done  so,  I  did  not 
know.  After  you  left  me  the  silence  of  my  apartment 
almost  maddened  me.  In  speaking  to  the  chauffeur,  I 
sought  the  comfort  that  might  be  yielded  merely  by  the 
sound  of  a  human  voice — a  voice  that  would  make  my 
isolation  from  the  world  seem  less  complete. 

"Succumbing  to  mental  and  physical  fatigue,  I  was 
sinking  into  a  sort  of  stupor  when  I  was  aroused  by  the 
approach  of  a  machine  behind  the  one  in  which  I  was 
seated.  A  few  moments  later  it  slowed  down  and  I  saw 
it  was  a  limousine  without  lights.  From  it  two  dark 
figures  stepped  out  and  moved  toward  the  car  in  which 
I  was  seated.  My  chauffeur  met  them,  and  for  a  little 
more  than  a  minute,  perhaps,  they  stood  talking  to 
gether,  then  the  newcomers  again  came  toward  me.  A 
few  steps  brought  them  in  front  of  the  headlights  of  the 
car.  The  features  of  one  of  the  men  I  did  not  recognize. 
But  when  I  saw  the  face  of  the  other  I  knew — I  knew 
either  you  had  lied  to  me  and  were  in  league  with  Seaf  al- 
con,  or  that  it  was  some  voice  other  than  yours  that  had 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

directed  me  to  leave  my  apartments — that  it  was  the  hand 
of  one  of  your  enemies  that  had  penned  the  note  which 
had  been  sent  to  me  by  the  messenger.  I  still  believed  in 
you,  however,  and  this  belief  made  me  know  I  was  in  the 
hands  of  foes  who  were  pressing  you  more  closely  than 
you  had  reason  to  suspect." 

Reaching  across  the  table,  she  grasped  one  of  Renni- 
son's  hands  and  pressed  it  convulsively.  Her  voice  shook 
as  she  added: 

"Having  blundered  so  yesterday,  I  should  have  been 
glad  to  die.  But  it  suddenly  flashed  into  my  mind  that, 
in  the  fight  against  Seafalcon,  you,  with  the  strange 
qualities  that  are  attributed  to  you,  might  prove  the 
American  Government's  most  effective  instrument — that 
you  must  be  saved.  And  so  I  fought  off  the  great  horror 
that  had  overwhelmed  me,  and,  as  I  fought,  I  began  to 
think  clearly." 

She  stopped,  and  again  Rennison  felt  the  pressure  of 
her  trembling  hand,  which  had  retained  its  grasp  on  his. 
He  was  about  to  speak,  when  Miriam  raised  her  head  and 
darted  a  startled  glance  toward  the  door.  Listening, 
Rennison  heard  the  sounds  of  heavy  footsteps.  In  front 
of  the  door  these  ceased  abruptly.  Then  something  fell 
with  a  soft,  faintly  rattling  sound,  to  the  hall  carpet.  A 
couple  of  seconds  later  the  sounds  of  footfalls  indicated 
that  the  unseen  person  was  continuing  on  his  way. 

Glancing  at  his  companion,  Rennison  saw  a  strained  ex 
pression  on  her  pallid  face.  She  shivered,  as  if  a  sudden 
chill  had  passed  over  her.  Then  her  gaze  met  his  ques 
tioning  eyes. 

"Yes — it  was  another  signal,"  she  faltered.  "The  fall 
of  a  bunch  of  keys  outside  the  door  was  designed  to  give 
me  to  understand  that  any  telephone  message  sent  by 


SPIDERS  AND  FLIES 

either  of  us  from  this  room  would  be  picked  up  and  re 
ported  to  those  who  sent  me  here.  Both  of  us  are  firmly 
in  their  grip.  I  must  die,  but  you — you  must  live  to 
break  their  power.  It  is  because  I  believe  you  can  and 
will  do  this  that  I  am  here." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY. 

IT  was  plain  that  Miriam  was  making  a  determined  effort 
to  regain  the  composure  she  had  lost  when  the  footsteps 
in  the  hall  had  diverted  her  mind  from  the  story  of  her 
adventure.  Rennison  relighted  his  cigar  and  smoked 
silently  for  several  minutes.  Then  he  said : 

"I  am  grateful  to  you  for  your  confidence,  Miss  War- 
burton,  and  shall  try  to  prove  myself  worthy  of  it.  Still, 
it  seems  to  me  you  are  wrong  in  assuming  that  the  mat 
ter  on  which  you  are  engaged  must  be  fatal  to  yourself. 
Now,  let  us  get  back  to  the  point  at  which  we  had  ar 
rived  when  we  were  interrupted.  You  have  said  that 
one  of  the  two  men  who  advanced  toward  you  from  the 
limousine  was  unknown  to  you,  but  that  you  immediately 
recognized  in  the  other  a  man  whom  you  had  some  reason 
to  believe  was  an  adherent  of  Seafalcon's." 

"Yes.     It  was  Forney  Kerfoot." 

As  she  spoke,  she  looked  at  him  as  if  he  expected  some 
manifestation  of  surprise.  But  she  saw  none.  Over 
the  features  of  the  Army  officer  came  no  change.  His 
gaze  was  fixed  abstractedly  on  a  wreath  of  tobacco  smoke 
which  just  had  issued  from  his  lips. 

"Kerfoot,  eh?"  he  murmured. 

"You  know  him,  of  course.'* 

"Oh,  yes — a  former  American  college  professor,  who 
became  a  soldier  of  fortune — first,  in  Mexican  revolution 
ary  activities,  then  in  the  Polish  Army  and  afterward 

214 


A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY  215 

with  the  Russian  Bolsheviki.  He  tried  to  start  trouble 
for  the  British  in  India,  and  finally  appeared  in  Paris, 
.where  he  became  a  leader  of  the  French  Communist  move 
ment.  So  Kerfoot  is  back  in  the  United  States,  eh?" 

Miriam  flushed  resentfully. 

"Why  will  you  not  be  frank  with  me?"  she  demanded. 
"Despite  the  secrecy  with  which  his  movements  have  been 
invested,  it  is  not  possible  that  his  presence  in  this  coun 
try  has  been  unknown  to  you." 

"We  are  getting  away  from  your  story  again,  my  dear 
Miss  Warburton,  and  it  is  essential  that  you  tell  it  to 
me  as  quickly  as  you  can,"  Rennison  answered,  shortly. 

"Yes,"  she  assented,  wearily.  "I  will  tell  it  as  quickly 
as  I  can."  She  paused,  passed  a  hand  over  her  eyes,  and 
then  went  on:  "The  man  I  did  not  know  passed  behind 
the  touring  car  and  disappeared.  Kerfoot  opened  the 
door,  stepped  in  and  sat  down  beside  me.  In  a  surly 
voice  he  addressed  me. 

"  'Well,  Miss  Warburton,  I  suppose  it  is  quite  in  order 
for  your  friends  to  congratulate  you  now  on  the  manner 
in  which  you  have  unmasked  Captain  Reifsnyder,'  he 
said. 

"  'No,  Mr.  Kerfoot,*  I  replied.  'All  who  are  indeed  my 
friends  will  know  I  am  not  responsible  for  any  misad 
venture  that  has  come  to  Captain  Reifsnyder.' 

"  'Ah,  you  do  know  me,  then !'  Kerfoot  exclaimed.  'I 
had  understood  you  came  here  expecting  to  meet  Captain 
Rennison.' 

"  'I  did  understand  that  this  car  had  been  sent  for  me 
by  Captain  Rennison,  who,  as  a  Government  agent,  has 
fastened  on  me  responsibility  for  the  death  of  Oliver 
Channing  and  the  theft  of  certain  papers  he  brought  with 
him  to  Washington.* 


216  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"It  was  plain  that  he  was  fairly  staggered  by  the  na 
ture  of  my  reply.  After  hesitating  a  bit,  he  asked : 

"  'What  disposition  did  you  make  of  those  papers, 
Miss  Warburton?' 

"I  told  him  the  truth." 

"You  told  him  the  truth !"  Rennison  exclaimed. 

"I  told  him  I  had  slipped  the  papers  into  Hayden's 
cane  while  he  was  having  dinner  at  my  apartments,  and 
that  Hayden  then  had  left  me  to  go  to  the  Guilfords' 
reception,  not  knowing,  of  course,  that  the  papers  were 
in  his  cane.  I  also  explained  that,  later,  Hayden  came 
with  you  to  my  apartments,  and  that  you  had  learned  I 
had  taken  the  papers  from  Channing.  I  told  him,  too, 
how  you  had  found  the  broken  sword-point  and  the  Hen- 
neshaw  napkin  and  that,  as  a  result  of  these  discoveries, 
you  had  identified  me  as  a  murderer  and  a  thief  and  had 
found  the  papers  in  the  cane." 

"It  is  plain  that  Kerfoot  was  not  long  in  winning  your 
confidence,"  Rennison  put  in,  grimly. 

"It  was  his  confidence,  not  mine,  that  was  the  stake 
in  the  game,"  Miriam  corrected.  "As  I  proceeded,  I  saw 
he  was  becoming  more  and  more  impressed  by  my  straight 
forwardness." 

"I  should  think  he  would  be,"  Rennison  agreed. 

"At  length  he  put  the  question  to  which  my  course  had 
been  directed,"  Miriam  continued.  "He  said:  'And  now, 
Miss  Warburton,  please  tell  me  in  whose  interest  you  were 
working  at  the  time  you  took  those  papers  from  Chan 
ning?'  I  replied  I  had  been  working  in  the  interests  rep 
resented  by  Captain  Reifsnyder. 

"  'And  what  interests  were  those?*  he  asked. 

"  'The  interests  of  Seafalcon,'  I  answered  him. 

"He  stopped  his  questioning,  then.     For  two  or  three 


A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY  217 

minutes  he  sat  beside  me  without  speaking,  then  he  laid 
a  hand  on  one  of  my  shoulders,  and  said,  quietly: 

"  'All  right,  Miss  Warburton.  There  are  certain  cir 
cumstances  connected  with  this  affair  that  I  did  not 
understand.' 

"He  rose,  as  he  spoke,  and  stepped  out  of  the  car. 
As  he  moved  away,  he  was  joined  by  the  man  I  had  seen 
with  him  at  first.  They  halted,  and  for  two  or  three  min 
utes  they  conversed  earnestly  together.  Then  Kerfoot 
again  approached  my  car.  Flinging  open  the  door,  he 
said: 

"  'I  must  ask  you  to  leave  this  car,  Miss  Warburton, 
and  come  with  us  in  the  limousine.  The  change  should  be 
a  desirable  one,  I  think,  for  it  looks  as  if  we  were  about  to 
have  a  storm.' 

"  'Where  am  I  to  be  taken?'  I  asked. 

"  'Our  destination  is  Baltimore,'  he  replied.  'If  what 
you  just  have  told  me  is  true,  you  will  find  yourself  with 
friends  who  will  afford  you  all  necessary  protection 
against  any  unpleasant  consequence  of  your  service  to 
Captain  Reifsnyder  yesterday  afternoon.' 

"Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  I  was  unconscious 
of  any  sensation  of  fear  as  I  rose.  In  a  vague  sort  of 
way  I  felt  there  was  opening  to  me  an  opportunity  to 
undo,  in  a  measure,  the  evil  into  which  I  had  been  led  by 
Reifsnyder.  It  was  impossible,  of  course,  to  restore  life 
to  poor  Channing,  but  the  idea  came  to  me  that  I,  who 
had  taken  his  life,  might  avenge  his  death  in  a  manner 
that  might  hasten  the  fall  of  Seafalcon. 

"And  so  it  was  not  with  fear,  but  with  eagerness,  that 
I  trembled  as  I  left  the  car  and  allowed  Kerfoot  to  con 
duct  me  to  the  waiting  limousine.  As  I  sank  back  on 
the  rear  seat,  I  saw  that  the  chauffeur's  place  was  being 


218  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

taken  by  the  man  who  had  called  for  me  at  my  apartments. 
The  stranger  I  first  had  seen  with  Kerfoot  sat  beside  the 
chauffeur.  Kerfoot  came  in  with  me  and  closed  the  door. 
The  man  who  had  been  driving  the  limousine  went  over  to 
the  touring  car. 

"Once  we  were  in  our  places  in  the  machine,  there  was 
little  delay  in  getting  under  way.  At  the  next  street 
intersection  the  limousine  was  headed  northward,  and  it 
was  not  long  before  we  came  to  a  road  which  I  recog 
nized  as  constituting  the  most  direct  route  to  Baltimore. 

"Though  Kerfoot's  general  appearance  was  indicative 
of  calmness,  I  fancied  that  beneath  the  surface  were  evi 
dences  of  unrest.  As  we  passed  the  lamps  with  which  the 
road  was  lighted,  I  was  conscious  of  the  efforts  he  made 
to  scrutinize  my  face.  When  he  first  broke  the  silence 
it  was  to  ask  me  if  I  objected  to  smoking  in  the  car.  I 
replied  that  I  did  not,  but  the  coldness  of  my  perfunctory 
answer  apparently  led  him  to  believe  that  such  action 
would  be  undesirable,  for  he  did  not  light  the  cigar 
which  he  took  from  his  pocket. 

"At  length  he  spoke  again. 

"  'And  so  you  have  believed  yourself  to  be  working  in 
the  interest  of  Seafalcon?'  he  said. 

"  'Yes,'  I  answered,  shortly. 

"  'But  Reifsnyder  gave  us — gave  me — to  understand 
that,  though  you  were  working  in  accordance  with  his  di 
rections,  you  believed  Channing  and  others  associated 
with  him  to  be  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  against  the 
Government.' 

"I  laughed  a  little  as  I  replied  that  Captain  Reif- 
snyder  and  I  understood  each  other  perfectly. 

"For  several  minutes  he  was  silent,  then  he  asked  a 
question  I  had  been  expecting. 


A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY  219 

"  'How  does  it  happen,  Miss  Warburton,  that  Renni- 
son,  knowing  you  to  be  guilty  of  the  death  of  Oliver  Chan- 
ning,  did  not  take  you  into  custody  at  the  time  he  visited 
you  in  your  apartment?' 

"And  then,  in  your  interest  and  in  that  of  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  I  lied  to  him.  I  told  him 
that  you  and  I  had  been  friends  for  many  months, 
but  that,  despite  this  fact,  you  had  not  suspected  my 
interest  in  the  cause  of  Seafalcon." 

"You  have  been  playing  boldly,"  Rennison  muttered, 
thoughtfully.  "Your  purpose  is  becoming  clear  to  me, 
however.  The  plan  was  well  devised,  and  I  must  con 
gratulate  you  on  having  made  such  a  clever  beginning. 
So  we  had  been  friends  for  several  months,  eh?" 

"He  asked  me  if  our  friendship  had  been  known  to 
Hayden  Storrow,"  Miriam  went  on.  "I  told  him  that 
Hayden  did  not  know  we  were  acquainted.  I  explained, 
then,  that,  having  traced  the  crime  to  me,  you  were 
greatly  agitated  and  seemed  in  doubt  concerning  the 
manner  in  which  you  were  to  proceed,  but  that  I  defied 
you,  and  directed  you  not  to  spare  me." 

"You  told  Kerfoot  you  saw  in  my  possession  the  papers 
you  had  taken  from  Channing?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Yes.  I  told  him  also  that  I  attempted  to  take  your 
life  in  order  to  regain  them.  Incident  to  this,  I  described 
your  talk  over  the  telephone  with  Captain  Merschon  and 
how  your  friend  had  entered  the  apartment  and  released 
you  from  the  handcuffs  which  I  had  placed  on  your 
wrists." 

"Did  you  tell  him  I  made  a  copy  of  the  papers  before 
I  left  you?" 

"Not  at  the  time  we  were  talking  in  the  limousine. 
Afterwards " 


220  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Well,  let  us  continue  with  the  incidents  in  the  order 
in  which  they  occurred,"  Rennison  said. 

"Our  conversation  in  the  limousine  lasted  scarcely  more 
than  ten  or  fifteen  minutes,"  Miriam  continued.  "Kerfoot 
already  had  been  silent  for  several  minutes  when  the 
storm  struck  us." 

"Did  the  storm  cause  your  machine  to  stop?"  Renni 
son  asked. 

"Yes — we  stopped — a  few  miles  the  other  side  of 
Laurel,  I  should  say.  The  car  was  run  into  a  side  road 
that  looked  to  be  little  more  than  a  lane.  Kerfoot  put 
on  a  raincoat,  and  while  the  machine  stood  still,  he  left 
me  and  had  a  conversation  with  the  men  on  the  front 
seat.  It  still  was  raining  when  we  continued  on  our  way, 
but  the  violence  of  the  wind  and  rain  had  abated. 

"In  a  few  minutes  we  were  back  on  the  main  road 
again.  Just  as  we  entered  this,  a  touring  car  sped  by 
us.  Kerfoot  remarked  that,  like  ours,  the  touring  car  was 
without  tire  chains.  The  sight  of  this  car  seemed  to  have 
a  disquieting  effect  on  Kerfoot,  who  said  it  appeared  to 
be  in  a  hurry  and  that  he  would  be  glad  to  know  who  its 
occupants  were. 

"We  had  been  on  the  main  road  only  about  five  min 
utes,  during  which  time  we  struck  a  pace  that,  at  times, 
seemed  dangerous,  in  view  of  the  slippery  condition  of  the 
roadway,  when  something  occurred  that  caused  Kerfoot 
to  half  rise  from  the  seat  on  which  he  was  sitting  be 
side  me.  The  limousine  was  slowing  down,  and,  looking 
on  ahead,  I  saw  that  a  lantern  was  being  swung  from 
side  to  side  about  a  hundred  yards  ahead  of  us.  As  we 
swept  on  toward  it,  it  disappeared. 

"The  limousine  came  to  a  standstill  at  the  right  of  the 


A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY 

road  and  beside  what  appeared  to  be  an  open  field.  Ker- 
foot  flung  open  the  door  beside  him  and  stepped  out. 
He  had  moved  only  a  couple  of  paces  from  the  machine 
when  I  saw  two  strangers  approach  him.  Retaining  my 
place  in  the  machine,  I  heard  distinctly  the  conversation 
that  followed.  I  was  unable,  however,  to  see  the  faces  of 
the  speakers.  The  first  to  speak  was  one  of  the  strangers, 
who  said: 

"  'You've  got  Horsford  right  ahead  of  you  and  Renni- 
son  behind  you.  Rennison  and  a  Secret  Service  man  have 
struck  some  sort  of  trail  that  leads  to  Horsford  and 
Baltimore.  We  haven't  been  able  to  get  this  to  the  Chief 
or  to  head  off  Rennison,  but  it  looks  like  it  was  up  to  you 
to  deal  with  the  Government  men.  You've  got  to  hurry, 
for  Rennison  is  close  behind.' 

"  'How —  — ?'  Kerfoot  began,  but  the  stranger  inter 
rupted  him. 

"  'I  don't  know  anything  of  the  "Hows,"  '  he  said.  'All 
I  have  is  a  quick  telephone  tip  of  the  situation  as  it 
stands  and  instructions  to  put  Horsford  wise.  You'd 
better  overhaul  him  if  you  can,  for  he  might  take  a  side 
road  as  he  nears  Baltimore  and  miss  the  parties  that  are 
being  sent  out  to  meet  him  from  there.' 

"  'All  right,  Bill,'  Kerfoot  answered,  quietly,  as  he 
turned  away.  He  then  directed  our  chauffeur  to  use 
every  effort  to  overtake  the  touring  car  ahead  of  us.  In 
a  few  seconds  we  were  tearing  forward  again — this  time 
at  a  speed  that  fairly  put  my  nerves  on  edge.  Kerfoot, 
half-kneeling  on  the  seat,  continued  to  peer  out  of  the 
rear  window  of  our  car.  Apparently  he  failed  to  see  your 
machine,  for  he  made  no  comment  on  the  situation. 

"Suddenly  the  limousine  began  to  slow  down  again.    As 


222  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

I  looked  about  to  learn  the  cause  of  this,  I  saw  a  motor 
cycle  was  following  us  closely.  Kerfoot  swore  quietly, 
but  did  not  address  me. 

"When  the  limousine  stopped,  Kerfoot  got  out.  I  saw 
him  show  some  sort  of  badge  to  a  man  in  the  uniform 
of  a  traffic  policeman,  who  got  off  the  motorcycle.  In 
a  few  moments  the  policeman  stepped  back,  Kerfoot  re- 
entered  the  machine  and  once  again  we  were  on  our 
way. 

"It  soon  became  apparent  that  what  the  policeman 
had  said  concerning  our  pace  had  had  little  effect  on  the 
driver  of  the  car,  for  in  two  or  three  minutes  we  were 
speeding  as  rapidly  as  we  had  done  before.  Twice  or 
thrice  I  heard  Kerfoot  muttering,  but  the  words  he  ut 
tered  were  unintelligible  to  me.  Occasionally  he  rose  to 
look  out  of  the  back  of  the  car,  but,  for  the  most  part, 
he  sat  quietly  beside  me.  He  now  had  lighted  his  cigar 
and  was  puffing  at  it  vigorously. 

"In  this  manner  we  passed  through  and  beyond  Laurel. 
Once,  as  Kerfoot  rose  to  look  along  the  road  behind  us, 
the  car  swerved  sharply,  with  such  force  that  my  com 
panion's  hand  rested  on  my  shoulder  for  support.  He 
apologized  as  he  sank  back  to  the  seat. 

"Then  came  the  accident.  This  occurred  at  a  time 
when  the  machine  was  being  slowed  down.  The  car  had 
skidded  so  often  before  that  I  was  not  seriously  alarmed 
at  its  sudden  swerving  now.  But  this  time  our  chauffeur 
had  us  too  near  the  middle  of  the  slippery  road  when 
the  sharp  curve  was  taken.  Beyond  the  curve  the  limou 
sine  left  the  roadway,  careened,  then  crashed  against  a 
light  tree  or  two  which  broke  the  force  of  its  collision 
with  a  larger  one. 

"Despite  the  shaking  up  to  which  we  were  subjected, 


A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY  223 

none  of  us  was  injured.  I  heard  several  oaths  from  one 
of  the  men  on  the  front  seat  of  the  car,  but  Kerfoot, 
beside  me,  was  silent.  The  violence  of  the  crash  had 
flung  him  against  me,  but  as  he  drew  back  he  neither  apol 
ogized  nor  asked  me  if  I  had  been  hurt.  Apparently 
oblivious  of  my  presence,  he  rose  slowly,  opened  the  door 
on  his  right  and  stepped  out. 

"After  exchanging  a  few  words  with  the  men  on  the 
front  seat,  Kerfoot  returned  to  where  I  remained  seated. 

"  'We  must  get  away  from  here — quickly,  Miss  War- 
burton/  he  said.  'You  must  come  with  us  into  the 
woods.' 

"I  made  no  protest,  of  course.  But,  as  I  was  about 
to  pick  up  the  handbag  I  had  brought  with  me  from  my 
apartment,  the  thought  came  to  me  that  you,  being 
behind  us,  were  likely  to  enter  and  examine  the  car  we 
were  about  to  abandon.  For  this  reason,  therefore,  I 
decided  to  leave  the  bag  on  the  seat.  In  the  bag  were 
envelopes  addressed  to  me,  and  I  did  not  doubt  that  you 
would  find  them,  and  thus  learn  that,  having  been  in 
the  machine,  I  still  was  near  the  scene  of  the  accident. 
You  did  find  the  bag  and  see  the  letters?" 

"Yes,"  Rennison  answered.  "The  bag  is  now  in  one  of 
the  drawers  of  that  dressing  case." 

The  actress  went  on: 

"Scarcely  had  I  alighted  from  the  disabled  machine 
when  Kerfoot  grasped  one  of  my  arms  and  hurried  me 
to  a  stone  wall.  Over  this  I  was  helped,  none  too  gently, 
by  him  and  his  companions.  At  times  I  was  almost 
dragged  through  the  rain-soaked  underbrush,  and  now 
and  then  I  was  more  than  ankle-deep  in  mud  or  pools  of 
water. 

"At  length  we  stopped.     Kerfoot  then  told  his  com- 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

panions  that  every  effort  must  be  made  to  get  possession 
of  the  car  that  was  following  us,  but  that  an  exchange  of 
shots  with  its  occupants  must  be  avoided. 

"  'We'll  deal  with  Rennison  at  another  time  and  in  our 
own  way,'  Kerfoot  said.  'There  is  a  good  reason  why 
he  should  not  be  brought  to  account  to-night.' 

"Scarcely  had  he  spoken  when  we  heard  the  approach 
of  an  automobile.  It  soon  became  apparent  this  was 
slowing  down.  Kerfoot  now  turned  to  me,  and,  gripping 
one  of  my  arms,  said: 

"  'That  is  Rennison,  and  we  must  have  his  car.  You 
have  said  you  are  loyal  to  the  cause  of  Seafalcon.  You 
now  must  prove  to  me  that  you  are.  Your  cries  for  aid 
must  lure  him  into  this  wood.' 

"  'You  are  going  to  attack  him  there?'  I  asked,  sus 
piciously. 

"  'No,'  Kerfoot  replied.  'If  he  comes  in  here  he  will 
have  others  with  him  and  there  are  good  reasons  for 
avoiding  a  clash  to-night.  They  must  be  lured  into  the 
woods  in  order  that  we  may  get  their  machine  and  con 
tinue  on  our  way  to  Baltimore  with  the  least  possible 
delay.  Your  loyalty  now  is  being  put  to  the  test.  You 
must  do  as  I  tell  you  to  do.' 

"  'I  will  meet  the  test,'  I  answered. 

"  'I  knew  you  would,'  he  said,  as  he  pressed  my  arm. 
'We  must  wait  a  few  moments,  however.  When  the  time 
comes  to  act,  I  will  tell  you  what  to  do.' 

"In  a  few  moments  the  sounds  that  came  to  us  from 
your  machine  indicated  that  it  was  stopping  some  dis 
tance  beyond  the  point  at  which  ours  had  come  to  grief. 
Kerfoot  then  remarked  that  it  was  probable  you  and 
your  friends  were  going  back,  on  foot,  to  where  the  limou- 


A  WOMAN'S  STRATEGY  225 

sine  was  ditched.  While  we  waited,  Kerfoot  told  me 
how  and  what  to  call.  At  length  he  gave  me  the  signal, 
and  I  called  for  help.  Immediately  after  my  second  call, 
Kerfoot  again  seized  one  of  my  arms,  and  our  party  hur 
ried  toward  the  road. 

"When  the  road  was  reached,  we  clambered  over  the 
wall  and  the  man  who  had  been  riding  beside  the  chauf 
feur  ran  forward.  Kerfoot  was  close  after  him.  Our 
chauffeur  kept  close  to  me,  apparently  guarding  against 
any  possible  attempt  by  me  to  escape. 

"I  saw  Kerfoot  open  fire  on  your  chauffeur,  then  some 
one  down  the  road  shot  twice  at  our  party  as  we  made  off 
in  your  machine.  Your  chauffeur  appeared  to  be  shot,  as 
well  as  beaten.  Was  he  injured  seriously?" 

"No,"  Rennison  assured  her.  "The  wound  was  com 
paratively  slight.  He  is  in  a  hospital,  but  in  no  danger." 

"The  remainder  of  our  ride  was  uneventful,"  Miriam 
continued.  "As  we  were  about  to  enter  Baltimore,  a 
roadster  met  us  and  made  some  sort  of  a  signal  which 
caused  us  to  stop.  Kerfoot  got  out  and  had  a  brief 
conversation  with  one  of  the  occupants  of  the  other  ma 
chine,  who,  remained  in  his  seat.  We  then  entered  Balti 
more. 

"Scarcely  had  we  crossed  the  city  line,  however,  when 
something  occurred  that  plainly  gave  me  to  understand 
that  I  had  not  succeeded  in  winning  the  entire  confidence 
of  Kerfoot.  He  rose  and  lowered  each  curtain  of  the 
limousine,  making  it  impossible  for  me  to  observe  the 
course  we  were  taking.  I  made  no  comment  on  his  action, 
nor  did  he  vouchsafe  any  word  of  explanation. 

"We  sat  in  silence,  but  the  time  passed  quickly.  The 
machine  was  proceeding  now  at  a  moderate  pace.  We 


226  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

made  several  turns,  and  once  we  stopped,  but  Kerfoot, 
puffing  at  a  cigarette,  did  not  leave  my  side.  In  a  couple 
of  minutes  we  were  on  our  way  again. 

"At  length  the  machine  began  to  jolt,  as  if  it  were 
moving  over  rough  ground.  Finally  it  stopped.  I  heard 
Kerfoot  sigh  in  a  manner  that  was  indicative  of  relief. 

"  'All  right,  Miss  Warburton,'  he  said.  'I  think  we 
are  at  our  destination  now.* 

"He  rose,  threw  open  the  door  and  stepped  out.  A 
moment  later  he  thrust  his  head  inside  the  limousine  and 
directed  me  to  follow  him.  As  I  obeyed,  I  began  to 
tremble.  Whether  this  was  due  to  fear  I  do  not  know.  I 
was  conscious,  however,  of  a  premonition  that  I  was 
about  to  be  confronted  by  a  situation  that  was  likely  to 
impose  upon  me  a  strain  more  severe  than  any  to  which 
I  had  been  subjected  since  I  had  addressed  myself  to  the 
terrible  task  that  had  been  set  for  me  by  Captain  Reif- 
snyder." 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

THE    INNER    CIRCLE. 

PAUSING  in  her  narrative,  Miriam  Warburton  looked  ab 
stractedly  at  the  gloves  she  had  been  twisting  nervously 
as  they  lay  on  the  table  before  her.  Rennison,  looking 
back  in  his  chair,  clasped  his  hands  behind  his  head.  For 
several  moments  the  silence  was  unbroken,  then  Rennison 
rose  and  crossed  quickly  to  the  door.  Opening  this 
quietly,  he  looked  out.  He  closed  the  door  again  and 
returned  to  the  table.  Beside  this  he  reseated  himself. 
Miriam  glanced  at  him  anxiously. 

"There  is  no  one  there,"  the  Army  officer  said,  reas 
suringly. 

"You  thought  you  heard  some  one?"  the  actress  asked. 

"No.  It  occurred  to  me,  however,  that  you  had  not 
been  speaking  the  last  five  minutes  as  carefully  as  you  did 
at  first.  That's  all.  Now  let  me  hear  the  rest  of  your 
story." 

"As  I  stepped  out  of  the  limousine,  I  saw  it  had  stopped 
only  six  or  eight  yards  from  a  bungalow,"  Miriam  went 
on.  "About  a  hundred  feet  to  the  left  the  moonlight  was 
shining  on  the  surface  of  a  river.  I  just  had  glanced 
in  the  direction  of  this  when  Kerfoot  gripped  one  of  my 
arms,  a  little  roughly. 

"  'Come,  Miss  Warburton,  we  must  hurry  in/  he  said. 
Then,  still  holding  my  arm,  he  led  me  to  the  door  of  the 
bungalow.  This  already  had  been  opened  by  some  one 

227 


228  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

within — some  one  who  stepped  back  as  we  passed  inside. 
Kerfoot  and  I  entered  together.  The  two  men  who  had 
been  on  the  front  seat  of  the  limousine  remained  on  the 
machine. 

"As  the  entrance  door  was  closed  behind  me,  I  became 
conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  atmosphere  of  the  bunga 
low  was  heavy  with  the  smoke  of  tobacco.  The  room  in 
which  we  now  found  ourselves  was  unlighted,  but  I  had  a 
feeling  that  in  it  there  were  others  than  my  companion 
and  myself.  I  was  not  mistaken,  for  we  had  advanced 
only  a  couple  of  paces  when  a  man's  voice  said,  quietly: 

"  'Well,  Kerfoot,  you  are  late.' 

"Scarcely  had  he  spoken  when  there  was  a  sudden 
flare  of  an  electric  light,  under  a  green-shaded  lamp  on 
a  table. 

"I  now  saw  that  I  was  in  a  room  about  thirty  by 
twenty-five  feet,  furnished  in  a  manner  which  plainly  indi 
cated  that  its  owner  was  a  person  of  varied  musical 
tastes.  At  one  side  of  the  room  was  an  upright  piano, 
with  a  cloth-covered  harp  beside  it.  Not  far  from  this 
was  a  large,  glass-doored  cabinet  containing  a  couple  of 
violins,  a  guitar  and  a  ukulele.  On  the  top  of  the  piano 
lay  a  flute.  The  apartment  had  a  disordered,  dust-cov 
ered  appearance.  Ash-receivers  on  the  tables  were  filled 
to  overflowing,  and  tobacco  ashes,  match-sticks  and  cigar 
and  cigarette  stumps  were  scattered  over  the  polished 
floor  and  the  rugs.  The  furniture,  consisting,  for  the 
most  part,  of  comfortable  chairs  and  couches,  was  of  a 
miscellaneous  nature.  There  were  several  large,  well- 
filled  bookcases.  The  pictures  were  of  the  sort  one  sees 
displayed  in  the  cheaper  art  stores — pictures  of  cathe 
drals,  Venetian  scenes,  bathing  girls  and  photographic  re 
productions  of  paintings  by  old  masters.  There  was 


THE  INNER  CIRCLE  229 

something  in  the  aspect  of  the  place  that  seemed  to  sug 
gest  the  absence  of  womanly  interest  in  it." 

"It  is  evident  that  the  premonition  of  evil,  to  which 
you  have  referred,  did  not  have  the  effect  of  so  agitat 
ing  you  that  you  were  unobservant  of  details,"  Rennison 
remarked,  with  a  smile. 

"I  will  confess  frankly  that  I  was  very  nervous  and 
was  making  a  hard  struggle  to  retain  my  composure," 
Miriam  explained.  "My  observation  of  these  details  was 
partly  the  result  of  my  apprehension.  Like  many  other 
persons,  I  often  am  inclined  to  estimate  the  characters 
of  men  and  women  by  their  environment— by  the  things 
which  they  select  and  the  manner  in  which  they  place 
them  about  them.  As  I  glanced  about  me  I  was  relieved 
to  find  that  the  place  to  which  I  had  been  brought  was 
the  abode  of  a  person  of  culture,  rather  than  the  haunt  of 
human  animals." 

The  smile  faded  slowly  from  Rennison's  face.  He  nod 
ded  gravely,  and  the  actress  went  on: 

"But  I  had  no  opportunity  to  indulge  in  speculation, 
for  I  now  found  myself  in  the  presence  of  two  strangers. 
One  of  these — a  short,  broad-faced,  bald-headed  man, 
with  a  florid  complexion  and  surly  expression — had  op 
ened  the  door  through  which  we  had  entered  the  bungalow. 
The  other  stood,  near  the  middle  of  the  room,  beside  the 
table  that  held  the  electric  lamp  which  just  had  lighted 
the  apartment. 

"As  I  glanced  at  the  man  beside  the  table,  a  great  fear 
gripped  me — a  fear  that  chilled  my  blood  and  stifled  me. 
Trembling,  I  tottered  and  grasped  the  back  of  a  chair. 
Then  I  felt  Kerfoot  pass  an  arm  around  me.  It  was  ap 
parent  that  he  feared  I  was  about  to  fall. 

"The  man  who  had  excited  this  new  fear  was  about  six 


230  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

feet  tall,  long-limbed,  broad-shouldered  and  with  the 
graceful  bearing  of  an  athlete.  The  upper  part  of  his  face 
was  concealed  by  a  black  mask.  His  head  was  well- 
molded  and  his  carefully  brushed  black  hair  was  a  lit 
tle  gray  at  the  temples.  I  noticed,  too,  that  his  hands 
seemed  rather  smaller  than  was  usual  in  a  man  of  such 
height.  He  wore  a  close-fitting  gray  woolen  shirt,  with  a 
collar  of  the  same  material.  His  four-in-hand  tie  and 
trousers  were  of  the  same  color.  He  had  a  black  leather 
belt,  but  no  coat. 

"As  this  stranger  stood  watching  me,  with  his  right 
hand  resting  on  the  high  back  of  a  chair,  there  came  to 
me  a  suspicion  that  I  was  face  to  face  with  the  arch 
enemy  of  the  American  Government  and  of  the  world." 

"You  suspected,  then,  that  the  man  was  Seafalcon, 
himself?"  Rennison  queried. 

Leaning  closer  to  him,  over  the  table,  Miriam  asked: 

"You  have  heard  the  rumor  that,  two  months  ago,  Sea- 
calcon  met  with  some  sort  of  an  accident  that  resulted 
in  the  loss  of  one  of  his  eyes?" 

"Yes,"  Rennison  answered,  thoughtfully.  "I  have 
heard  several  such  reports,  but  none  appear  to  have  been 
authoritative.  One  had  it  that  he  was  wounded  by  a 
woman  with  whom  he  had  been  infatuated  and  who  com 
mitted  suicide  after  inflicting  the  injury  upon  him.  An 
other  was  to  the  effect  that  he  was  struck  by  a  fragment 
of  a  hand  grenade  that  was  hurled  at  him  by  the  officer  of 
one  of  the  American  vessels  he  boarded.  All  such  reports 
have  been  denied,  of  course." 

"Well,  these  reports  came  to  my  mind  as  I  looked  at  the 
masked  face  before  me,"  Miriam  continued.  "For  several 
moments  the  sinister  appearance  of  the  man  and  my  sus 
picion  concerning  his  identity  overwhelmed  me  with  awe 


THE  INNER  CIRCLE  231 

and  horror.  But  the  action  of  Kerfoot  in  passing  his 
arm  around  me  effected  a  revulson  of  feeling.  The  con 
tact  inspired  me  with  loathing.  As  I  thrust  him  aside, 
my  strength  began  to  come  back  to  me.  The  eyeholes 
in  the  stranger's  mask  had  an  irresistible  fascination  for 
me.  One  thought  was  burning  in  my  brain.  Trivial  as 
this  might  seem  to  you,  in  the  circumstances,  I  kept  re 
peating,  mentally,  'Two  eyes  or  one — two  eyes  or  one?' 

"Then  I  heard  the  voice  of  Kerfoot  addressing  me: 

"  'Come,  Miss  Warburton,  steady  yourself,'  he  said 
'Nothing  will  occur  here  that  should  give  you  any  cause 
for  alarm.' 

"He  placed  a  chair  for  me,  and,  as  I  sank  onto  this,  he 
turned  to  the  man  beside  the  table. 

"  'Miss  Warburton  has  had  a  hard  day  and  night  of 
it,'  Kerfoot  explained.  'She  has  convinced  me  that,  work 
ing  in  accordance  with  Reifsnyder's  directions,  she  knew 
she  was  aiding  our  cause.' 

"  'Indeed !'  exclaimed  the  man  beside  the  table,  and  the 
note  of  surprise  in  his  tone  was  unmistakable. 

"Leaning  forward,  the  man  in  the  mask  crossed  his 
arms  over  the  high  back  of  the  chair.  He  still  was  look 
ing  at  me  over  the  shaded  lamp,  and  I  could  not  see  the 
light  I  sought  in  the  eyeholes  of  the  mask  he  wore. 

"Kerfoot  then  repeated  all  I  had  told  to  him  concerning 
my  experiences  of  the  afternoon  and  night.  So  accurate 
was  this  repetition  that  it  was  unnecessary  for  me  to 
offer  any  correction.  While  he  was  thus  engaged,  I  was 
trying  to  formulate  some  plan  for  getting  into  communi 
cation  with  you  and  acquainting  you  with  the  fact  that 
Seafalcon  was  in  Baltimore,  for  not  for  a  moment  did  I 
doubt  now  that  the  man  before  me  was  the  chief  of  the 
dreaded  Brotherhood. 


232  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"The  masked  man  listened  in  silence  until  the  narra 
tive  of  Kerfoot  brought  us  to  the  door  of  the  bungalow 
in  which  I  now  was  seated. 

"When  Kerfoot  finished  speaking,  the  masked  man 
straightened  himself  slowly,  thrust  his  hands  into  the 
pockets  of  his  trousers  and  paced  thoughtfully  to  and 
fro  for  several  minutes ;  then,  sitting  on  the  arm  of  a 
chair,  he  faced  me. 

"  Tor  what  you  have  done  the  grateful  Brotherhood 
thanks  you,  Miss  Warburton,'  he  said.  'But  there  are 
several  things  that  still  require  explanation.  You  are 
leading  us  to  view  the  character  of  Captain  George  Ren- 
nison  from  a  new  angle.  We  had  been  convinced  that  he 
has  been  unswerving  in  his  allegiance  to  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment,  and  that  it  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  win 
him  to  our  cause.  How,  then,  does  it  happen  that,  know 
ing  you  to  be  the  person  who  took  the  life  of  Channing 
yesterday  afternoon,  he  allowed  you  to  continue  at  lib 
erty?' 

"I  realized  that,  in  order  to  save  myself,  to  aid  you 
and  to  defeat  the  designs  of  Seafalcon  it  would  be  nec 
essary  to  employ  every  art  of  deception  that  I  could 
command.  And  so  I  lied.  I  told  my  questioner  that  for 
several  weeks  you  had  manifested  a  strong  affection  for 
me — that  you  were  appalled  when  you  learned  of  my 
part  in  the  death  of  Channing  and  the  theft  of  the  papers. 
I  told  him  I  tried  to  win  you  over  to  the  cause  of  the 
Brotherhood,  and  that,  at  times,  I  fancied  you  were 
weakening  in  your  loyalty  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States.  I  explained  that  you  had  assured  me  that 
you  would  so  manipulate  the  situation  that  the  Govern 
ment  never  would  know  I  had  been  involved  in  the  Chan 
ning  affair. 


THE  INNER  CIRCLE  233 

"  'Do  you  believe  that  your  influence  over  Rennison  is 
so  great  that,  given  time,  you  could  win  him  over  to  us?' 
the  masked  man  asked. 

"  'Yes.*  I  answered. 

"  'Well,  we  shall  see,*  he  muttered.  He  paused,  then 
seemed  to  be  about  to  speak  again  when  a  door  in  the  rear 
of  the  room  was  flung  open  and  a  tall,  blonde-haired  man 
rushed  in. 

"  'The  devil's  in  it,  Chief !'  he  exclaimed,  excitedly. 
'The  papers  Horsford  brought  to  us  are  worthless.  They 
describe  nothing  that  ever  has  been  invented  by  mortal 
man.  Some  one  has  tricked  us  with  a  fool's  array  of 
meaningless  phrases  and  figures.  On  these  sheets  there 
is  not  a  line  that  would  give  us  a  clue  to  the  secret  of 
Channing's  invention.' 

"While  he  was  speaking  three  other  men  hurried  into 
the  room  through  the  door  that  had  been  opened  by  the 
blonde-haired  man.  One  of  the  newcomers  was  a  tall, 
lean,  elderly  man  who  was  trembling  with  agitation.  It 
was  Andrew  Horsford,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy. 

"  'What  does  this  mean,  Horsford?'  the  masked  man 
demanded. 

"  'This  gentleman  is  wrong,*  Horsford  protested. 
'These  are  the  papers  that  were  taken  from  the  body  of 
Oliver  Channing  yesterday  afternoon.  They  were  placed 
in  my  hands  by  George  Rennison  himself.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  that  they  hold  the  secret  of  Channing's  inven 
tion.' 

"  'You  are  convinced,  Harcourt,  that  they  are  mean 
ingless?'  the  masked  man  demanded,  as  he  fumbled  the 
sheets. 

"  'Absolutely,'  was  the  reply.  'It  is  clear  they  were 
prepared  for  no  purpose  other  thaa  deception.' 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"A  new  light  seemed  to  dawn  on  the  mind  of  the 
masked  man.  Again  he  turned  to  me: 

"  'You  told  Mr.  Kerfoot  that  while  Rennison  was  in 
your  apartment  he  made  a  copy  of  the  sheets  you  believed 
to  be  the  originals?'  he  asked. 

"  'Yes,'  I  answered.  Then,  after  a  pause,  I  added : 
*But  it  should  seem  clear  to  us  now  that  what  he  made 
were  not  copies,  after  all — that  he  kept  the  original 
sheets  and  gave  to  Mr.  Horsford  the  sheets  he  passed 
through  the  typewriter  in  my  room.* 

"The  masked  man  looked  thoughtfully  at  the  floor  for 
several  moments,  then  he  turned  to  one  of  the  men  who 
had  entered  with  Horsford. 

"  'Where  is  Rennison  now?*  he  inquired. 

"  'He  is  registered  under  the  name  of  Severn  at  the 
Hotel  Chichester,'  the  man  replied. 

"  'Who  is  with  him?' 

"  'He  is  alone.  Towndrow,  of  the  Secret  Service,  after 
going  with  him  to  Baltimore,  took  the  wounded  chauffeur 
around  to  a  hospital  and  then  put  up  for  the  rest  of  the 
night  at  the  Chelmford.* 

"Once  more  the  masked  man  turned  to  me. 

"  'You  see,  Miss  Warburton,  how  solicitously  we  watch 
the  movements  of  our  friends — and  enemies,'  he  drawled. 

As  he  spoke,  he  raised  one  of  his  hands  and  snapped 
off  the  mask  that  had  concealed  the  upper  part  of  his 
face.  Then  I  saw  that,  though  a  deep  scar  disfigured  the 
upper  part  of  his  left  cheek,  the  injury  had  not  affected 
the  eye  above  it.  His  eyes  were  alight  with  an  expres 
sion  that  seemed  to  bespeak  menace  first,  and  then  reas 
surance. 

"  'And,  even  as  my  friends  have  watched  my  enemies, 


THE  INNER  CIRCLE  235 

Miss  Warburton,  they  will  watch  you  in  the  course  of  the 
test  to  which  you  are  about  to  be  subjected,*  he  con 
tinued.  'You  have  told  us  that  you  are  loyal  to  the 
Brotherhood.  An  opportunity  now  will  be  given  to  you 
to  prove  that  loyalty.  You  have  said  you  exercise  a 
strong  influence  over  Captain  George  Rennison.  You  will 
be  required  to  exercise  this  in  our  behalf  to-night.  There 
is  little  doubt  that  the  papers  taken  by  you  from  the 
body  of  Channing  yesterday  afternoon  either  still  are 
in  Rennison's  possession  or  in  some  place  where  he  may 
have  access  to  them.  They  must  reach  my  hands  with 
as  little  delay  as  possible.  If  they  are  to  be  obtained  by 
you,  you  must  act  quickly.  If  Rennison  has  them  now, 
you  must  get  them  from  him  before  his  return  to  Wash 
ington.  If,  before  coming  to  Baltimore,  he  left  them 
with  some  one  in  Washington,  you  must  learn  what  dis 
position  he  has  made  of  them,  and  use  every  effort  to  in 
duce  him  to  get  them  and  deliver  them  to  you.  It  is 
unnecessary  for  me  to  remind  you  that  the  Brotherhood 
rewards  its  friends  and  metes  out  swift  punishment  to  all 
persons  who  attempt  to  deceive  it.  Its  power  is  world 
wide  and  no  man  or  woman  can  pass  beyond  it. 

"  'For  the  next  twenty-four  hours,  Miss  Warburton, 
you  will  act  as  a  free  agent.  You  may  go  where  you  will 
and  see  any  one  you  please,  without  being  required  to 
explain  your  motives.  But  you  will  carry  with  you  the 
knowledge  that,  though  unseen,  comrades  of  the  Brother 
hood  are  moving  with  you.  At  all  times  these  will  be  sub 
ject  to  your  directions.  The  services  of  Mr.  Kerfoot 
now  are  at  your  disposal.  May  success  attend  your 
efforts  in  our  behalf.  Good-night.' 

"Thus  speaking,  he  rose  from  the  arm  of  the  chair  on 


236  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

which  he  had  been  seated ;  then,  after  bowing  to  me,  he 
disappeared  through  the  doorway  in  the  rear  of  the  room. 
In  a  few  moments  Kerfoot  and  I  were  alone. 

"It  was  in  accordance  with  a  plan  suggested  by  Ker 
foot  that  I  came  here  to  you.  It  was  arranged  that  by 
raising  and  lowering  a  shade  at  one  of  your  windows  I 
should  signal  that  I  had  found  you  in  a  mood  favorable 
for  the  beginning  of  my  task.  It  also  was  arranged  that 
the  fall  of  a  bunch  of  keys  in  the  hall  outside  your  door 
should  give  me  assurance  that  Kerfoot  and  some  of  his 
friends  were  quartered  in  the  hotel  and  might  be  put  into 
communication  with  me  at  any  moment  by  the  operator  of 
the  hotel's  telephone  switchboard. 

"Though  Kerfoot  referred  to  this  arrangement  as  an 
'assurance  of  protection,'  I  was  not  deceived.  I  knew 
the  fall  of  the  bunch  of  keys  in  the  hall  would  constitute 
a  warning  possessing  the  solemnity  of  a  death  sentence, 
for  it  would  give  me  to  understand  that  you  and  I  stood 
alone  in  the  palm  of  a  giant's  slowly  closing  hand — the 
hand  of  the  dreadful  Brotherhood — and  that  we  would 
continue  to  live  and  breathe  only  at  the  mercy  of  Sea- 
falcon." 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

THE    NEW    COMRADE. 

As  Miriam  finished,  Rennison  dropped  his  still  smoking 
cigar  into  the  ash-tray  on  the  table. 

"And  so  you  believe  that  you  and  I  live  and  breathe 
only  at  the  mercy  of  Seafalcon,  eh?"  he  murmured. 

"You  must  see  that  it  is  so,"  the  actress  answered,  de 
jectedly. 

From  one  of  his  pockets  Rennison  drew  out  a  pipe  and 
pouch. 

"Why,  no,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said,  as  he  began 
thumbing  tobacco  into  the  bowl  of  the  pipe.  "Really, 
I  do  not  see  it  that  way  at  all." 

She  glanced  at  him  sharply — anxiously,  eagerly,  doubt 
fully. 

"You  do  see  a  way  out  of  it,  for  yourself?"  she  asked. 
"That  there  is  none  for  me,  I  know." 

Rennison  frowned. 

"The  situation  which  confronts  us  is  both  perilous  and 
difficult,  but  I  see  no  reason  to  doubt  that  we  will  move 
through  it  successfully,"  he  said.  "The  task  which  you, 
with  such  masterful  cleverness,  have  set  for  both  of  us 
is  well  begun.  Dead  or  alive,  Seafalcon  must  be  taken 
by  the  United  States  Government  within  the  next  twenty- 
four  hours.  Inasmuch  as  you  have  been  able  to  meet  me 
here  and  communicate  to  me  so  fully  the  details  of  the 
adventure  through  which  you  have  passed  plainly  indi- 


238  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

cates  that  fortune  is  favoring  us.  But  it  is  essential  that 
we  make  no  misstep. 

"Briefly,  the  situation  is  this :  The  Chief  of  the 
Brotherhood  believes  that  I  either  have  the  sheets  in  my 
possession  or  may  be  able  to  get  them  within  the  period 
he  designated.  You  have  encouraged  him  to  believe  that 
your  influence  over  me  is  such  that  I  may  be  led  to  de 
liver  the  papers  to  you.  He  has  made  it  clear  he  sus 
pects  that,  prior  to  leaving  Washington  to-night,  I  either 
concealed  them  or  left  them  with  somebody  in  that  city. 
The  first  of  these  suspicions  is  incorrect.  I  left  the 
papers  in  Washington,  of  course.  Naturally,  you  will  be 
allowed  sufficient  time  to  enable  me  to  recover  possession 
of  them." 

"Yes,"  replied  the  actress.  "Kerfoot  has  explained, 
however,  that  they  must  be  in  his  hands  within  twenty- 
four  hours." 

"No  attempt  will  be  made,  then,  to  prevent  me  from 
returning  to  Washington  to-day?" 

"No.  I  will  be  required,  though,  to  keep  him  informed 
of  your  movements  and  to  tell  him  who  it  is  you  go  to 
Washington  to  see.  From  the  moment  you  leave  me,  you 
will  be  under  constant  surveillance.  Should  you  do  or 
say  anything  in  the  next  twenty-four  hours  that  would 
indicate  that  I  am  deceiving  Kerfoot,  you  and  I  would 
be  punished  immediately." 

"You  will  be  permitted  to  return  to  Washington  with 
me?" 

"No.  When  you  leave  this  hotel,  I  must  go  from 
here  with  Kerfoot.  What  disposition  they  will  make  of 
me  until  such  time  as  I  am  to  meet  you  again  I  do  not 
know." 

"Their  plan,  then,  is  to  hold  you  as  a  hostage,  not  per- 


THE  NEW  COMRADE  239 

mitting  me  to  see  you  again  until  I  present  the  papers 
which  they  require?" 

"That  is   the  understanding." 

Rennison  puffed  reflectively  at  his  pipe. 

"I  see,"  he  muttered. 

For  several  minutes  both  were  silent.  Rennison  was  the 
first  to  speak. 

"You  have  no  suggestion  to  make,  Miss  Warburton?" 
he  asked,  with  a  sudden  affectation  of  cheerfulness. 

"None,"  Miriam  answered,  as,  still  sitting  beside  the 
table,  she  nervously  twisted  her  gloves. 

Rennison,   rising,   stretched  his  arms. 

"Well,  both  of  us  have  had  a  rather  strenuous  day  and 
night  of  it,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said.  Then,  after  glanc 
ing  at  his  watch,  he  added :  "It  is  nearly  five  o'clock  and 
if  you  do  not  get  some  sleep  soon  you  will  succumb  to  the 
strain  to  which  you  are  being  subjected.  Have  you  eaten 
anything  since  you  had  dinner  with  Storrow  yester 
day?" 

"Yes.  Kerfoot  insisted  that  I  should  have  some  sort 
of  breakfast  before  I  left  the  bungalow.  I  am  not  hungry, 
but — oh,  so  tired !" 

Rennison,  slowly  pacing  to  and  fro,  abstractedly 
stroked  the  crystal  of  his  watch  with  his  thumb. 

"You  must  rest,"  he  said. 

"But  where?" 

"Here — for  a  couple  of  hours,  at  least." 

"But,  as  soon  as  you  go,  I  must  rejoin  Kerfoot." 

"I  will  remain  here  until  eight  o'clock.  By  that 
time " 

"Well?"  Miriam  queried  anxiously,  as  he  stopped. 

"Much  may  be  accomplished  in  that  time,"  said  Ren 
nison.  "While  you  sleep,  I  will  watch — and  wait." 


240  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Would  it  not  be  better  for  you  to  go  right  back  to 
Washington  and  get  into  personal  touch  with  those  who 
are  to  aid  you?'*  asked  the  actress. 

"That  would  leave  you  at  the  mercy  of  our  enemies," 
the  Army  man  replied.  "No,  Miss  Warburton,  there  is 
a  better  way.  Their  desperate  attempt  to  get  those 
papers  is  leading  Seafalcon  and  his  agents  into  the  play 
ing  of  a  fool's  game.  By  keeping  you  in  their  custody 
and  setting  a  watch  on  me  they  are  playing  into  our 
hands.  It  is  fortunate  for  us  that  their  designs  make  it 
necessary  that  I  get  into  communication  with  my  friends." 

As  he  stepped  toward  the  telephone  on  the  wall,  Miriam 
laid  a  hand  on  one  of  his  arms. 

"Do  not  forget,  Captain,  that  all  you  say  over  the 
wire  will  be  heard  and  reported,"  she  cautioned  him. 

"Have  no  fear,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  assured  her.  "I 
will  not  fail  to  give  due  regard  to  your  warning." 

As  he  took  the  receiver  from  its  hook,  he  raised  a 
finger  in  a  manner  which  gave  her  to  understand  that  she 
must  be  silent. 

The  operator  at  the  hotel's  switchboard  responded 
promptly.  The  number  for  which  Rennison  asked  was 
that  of  the  Chelmford  Hotel.  The  desired  connection  was 
made  without  delay.  He  asked  for  Towndrow  and  in  a 
few  moments  he  recognized  as  the  Secret  Service  man's 
the  voice  that  came  to  him  over  the  wire.  Miriam,  watch 
ing  him  anxiously,  saw  him  take  a  lead  pencil  from  a 
pocket  of  his  vest. 

"Severn  is  speaking,"  Rennison  said. 

"All  right,  Severn,"  came  the  reply. 

"I  want  to  call  up  Winship,  in  Washington,  but  I've 
lost  his  telephone  number,"  Rennison  went  on.  "Do  you 
remember  it,  Towndrow?'* 


THE  NEW  COMRADE 

There  was  a  pause,  then  the  Secret  Service  man  re 
plied  : 

"No,  but  I  have  a  memorandum  of  it  somewhere.  If 
you'll  hold  the  wire,  I'll  look  it  up." 

"All  right,  old  man.     Sorry  to  bother  you." 

Miriam,  still  watching  him,  saw  him  place  the  point  of 
the  lead  pencil  in  contact  with  the  rubber  diaphragm 
of  the  transmitter.  She  fancied  he  was  tracing  some  sort 
of  a  design  on  the  black  surface. 

As  the  seconds  passed,  Rennison  stood  motionless. 
Twice,  apparently  irritated  by  the  delay,  he  called 
"Hello !"  But  he  got  no  answer.  Finally,  he  rattled  the 
receiver  hook.  Again  the  operator  at  the  hotel  switch 
board  responded. 

"I've  been  cut  off  from  the  man  with  whom  I've  been 
talking,"  Rennison  exclaimed.  "Connect  me  again, 
please."  And  he  gave  the  number  of  the  Chelmford.  In 
a  few  moments  he  had  Towndrow. 

"They  cut  us  off,  old  man,"  Rennison  said.  "Did  you 
find  Wiriship's  number?" 

"No,  Severn,  I've  mislaid  it." 

"Well,  no  matter,  then.  I'll  be  going  to  Washington 
on  the  eight-thirty  train  and  will  see  him  personally." 

"You're  done  here?" 

"Yes.  There's  no  use  going  further  with  the  thing 
to-day.  Horsford  has  beaten  us  out  and  probably  is 
back  at  his  home  by  this  time.  We've  succeeded  in  keep 
ing  the  papers  out  of  his  hands,  however,  and  it  looks  as 
if  we  must  be  satisfied  with  that — for  the  time  being,  at 
least.  Meantime,  it  will  be  best  to  say  nothing  to  any 
one  concerning  our  suspicions  of  him.  We  have  no 
direct  evidence  against  him,  of  course,  and,  unless  we 
obtain  this,  we  may  make  trouble  for  ourselves  by  taking 


242  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

others  into  our  confidence.  Anyhow,  it  looks  as  if  I 
were  about  done  with  the  case,  for  I  probably  will  be 
ordered  to  set  off  for  London  to-morrow." 

"This  trip  here  looked  to  me  like  a  fool's  chase  from  the 
first,"  Towndrow  growled.  "Do  you  want  me  to  take  the 
train  back  with  you?  Fve  been  pressed  pretty  hard 
these  last  twenty-four  hours,  and  since  the  game  is 
off " 

"Get  back  to  bed,  if  you  like,"  said  Rennison.  "When 
I  get  to  Washington  I'll  report  for  you.  Keep  to  the 
hay  until  ten  or  eleven  o'clock.  You  can  get  in  touch 
with  me  through  Merschon  this  afternoon." 

"All  right,   Severn." 

"All  right,  Towndrow.     Good-bye." 

Replacing  the  receiver  on  its  hook,  Rennison  turned 
to  his  companion.  Miriam,  standing  near  him,  was  look 
ing  at  him  anxiously. 

"Would  it  not  have  been  better  to  have  seen  your 
friend  before  you  leave  Baltimore?"  she  asked. 

"No.  That  might  have  spoiled  everything.  As  a  re 
sult  of  the  course  I  have  taken,  he  is  informed  of  the 
situation  you  and  I  are  facing  here,  and  in  a  few  min 
utes  every  necessary  resource  of  the  Government  will  be 
utilized  to  afford  protection  to  you." 

"But  you  only  told  your  friend — 

Laughing,  Rennison  took  in  one  of  his  the  little  hand 
the  wondering  actress  had  laid  on  his  arm. 

"What  you  heard  me  tell  him  was  for  ears  other  than 
his — the  ears  which  you  warned  me  were  alert  for  any 
thing  I  might  say  over  the  telephone.  All  information 
concerning  our  situation  here  was  conveyed  by  means  of 
this  pencil — during  the  period  my  voice  was  still — while 


THE  NEW  COMRADE 

Towndrow  was  supposed  to  be  seeking  the  memorandum 
for  which  I  asked.'* 

"I'm  afraid  I  do  not  understand,"  murmured  the  puz 
zled  Miriam. 

"The  explanation  is  simple,"  Rennison  assured  her. 
"I  asked  him  for  the  telephone  number  of  'Winship.'  The 
name  'Winship'  is  what  we  know  as  a  'cue  word.*  This 
not  only  gave  him  to  understand  that  I  was  about  to 
communicate  with  him  by  means  of  a  secret  code,  but 
that  he  must  afford  me  an  opportunity  to  do  so.  Though 
the  code  consists  of  a  series  of  dots  and  dashes,  produced, 
in  this  case,  by  tapping  on  the  diaphragm  of  the  tele 
phone  transmitter,  it  differs  materially  from  the  gen 
erally  known  Morse  code,  and  is  a  carefully  guarded 
secret  of  certain  Federal  agencies.  Upon  receiving  this 
cue,  Towndrow  told  me  he  would  search  for  the  slip  con 
taining  the  missing  telephone  number.  He  remained  at 
the  instrument,  of  course,  receiving  the  information  I 
tapped  out  to  him  with  the  point  of  my  pencil." 

"Then  he  knows " 

"He  knows  you  and  I  are  here  together,  under  close 
surveillance  of  Seafalcon's  spies,  that  you  have  seen  Sea- 
falcon  in  Baltimore,  and  that  you  will  meet  Kerfoot 
after  I,  followed  by  Seafalcon's  agents,  leave  this  hotel 
for  Washington.  He  is  now  proceeding  to  put  into 
action  agencies  which,  in  their  turn,  will  keep  careful 
watch  on  you  and  the  Brotherhood  men  who  have  you 
in  their  charge.  As  I  have  said,  we  will  remain  here  for 
the  next  two  hours.  At  the  expiration  of  that  time  we 
may  be  assured  that,  wherever  we  may  go,  we  will  be 
moving  under  Federal  protection.  I  must  caution  you, 
however,  against  any  display  of  confidence  or  defiance 


244  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

that  might  lead  our  enemies  to  suspect  that  you  no 
longer  fear  them.'* 

Smiling  sadly,  the  actress  shook  her  head. 

"It  will  be  impossible  for  me  to  display,  even  inad 
vertently,  confidence  that  I  cannot  feel,"  she  said.  "Your 
success  in  thus  communicating  with  your  friend  encour 
ages  my  belief  that,  sooner  or  later,  you  will  get  within 
striking  distance  of  Seafalcon.  But,  so  far  as  my  own 
fate  is  concerned,  I  have  no  illusions.  When  our  enemies 
learn  I  have  deceived  them,  they  will  strike  quickly.  AVhen 
the  blow  falls  upon  me,  however,  I  will  be  cherishing  the 
belief  that  you  are  attaining  your  object,  and  that  the 
death  of  Oliver  Channing  is  about  to  be  avenged  in  the 
manner  I  would  have  it  be." 

"The  death  of  Channing  will  be  avenged,"  Rennison 
said  grimly.  "But  it  is  essential  that  the  power  which 
is  to  attain  that  object  shall  be  given  time  in  which  to 
be  brought  into  action.  Two  hours  will  be  sufficient. 
This  will  afford  you  an  opportunity  to  rest.  Your  part 
of  the  task  we  have  in  hand  is  finished.  Until  I  leave  here 
for  Washington,  there  will  be  nothing  I  can  do." 

Thus  speaking,  Rennison  took  a  pillow  from  the  bed 
and  laid  it  at  the  head  of  a  couch. 

"Come,  now,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  directed.  "You 
must  have  strength  to  meet  the  ordeal  which  will  confront 
you.  This  you  cannot  have  unless  you  get  a  little  sleep." 

As  she  glanced  at  the  couch,  a  strange  abstraction 
came  over  her.  Crossing  to  where  she  stood,  Rennison 
slipped  a  hand  under  one  of  her  arms.  Her  gaze  shifted 
toward  the  door. 

"It  is  all  so  strange — so  terrible,"  she  whispered.  "I 
feel  as  if  I  had  died — as  if  I  were  looking  at  a  Miriam 
Warburton  who  is  dead.  It  would  be  so  much  better  if 


THE  NEW  COMRADE  215 

I  were  dead,  for  I  have  blundered  so.  I  sought  nothing 
for  myelf.  My  only  motive  was  to  serve  my  country 
and  yours.  But  I  was  wrong.  It  is  always  wrong  for 
a  woman  to  use  against  men  those  weapons  which  are 
forged  for  her  by  the  spirit  of  chivalry.  Had  Oliver 
Channing  not  stooped  to  pick  up  for  me  the  death  flower 
I  dropped  he  would  be  living  to-day.  Had  Hayden  Stor- 
row-  — " 

A  chill  crept  over  Rennison  as  the  whispered  name  fell 
haltingly  from  the  trembling,  white  lips  of  the  actress. 

"You  have  loved  Hayden?"  he  asked,  gently. 

Miriam  shook  her  head. 

"No,"  she  answered.  "I  have  done  him  a  great  wrong. 
I  sought  his  acquaintance  only  in  order  that  I  might  get 
in  touch  with  the  social  circle  in  which  he  moved.  He 
knew  so  many  people.  Some  of  them  were  persons  who 
moved  on  dangerous  ground — persons  in,  or  allied  with, 
the  diplomatic  set.  But  he  was  unsuspicious  and  a  care 
less  thinker.  Through  him  I  learned  much  that  was  of 
great  political  significance — things  of  great  importance 
that  were  unsuspected  by  him." 

Pausing,  she  glanced  quickly  at  Rennison's  face. 

"You  know  what  it  is  I  mean,"  she  went  on.  "Some 
times  I  have  suspected  that  you  had  been  drawn  toward 
Hayden  for  the  same  reasons  I  had  been  drawn  to  him." 

"Yes,"  Rennison  replied,  "I  know." 

"But  I  could  not  love  him,"  Miriam  explained.  "It 
never  seemed  to  me  possible  that  a  woman  really  could 
love  a  man  who  was  weaker  than  herself.  Hayden  has 
wealth,  social  position,  physical  vigor  and  a  good  pres 
ence — qualities  that  should  give  to  him  great  power  were 
they  employed  in  the  service  of  his  country — of  civiliza 
tion,  in  times  like  these.  But  he  sees  in  life  nothing  but 


246  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

the  comforts  and  pleasures  yielded  by  each  passing  hour. 
While  others,  far  less  favored,  are  working  for  the  salva 
tion  of  their  country,  he — 

Flushing  suddenly,  she  looked  at  Rennison  wonder- 
ingly.  There  had  come  to  her  a  realization  of  the  fact 
that,  while  she  had  been  speaking,  she  was  holding  one  of 
his  hands  in  both  her  own,  and  that  one  of  his  arms  was 
around  her.  But  in  his  eyes  and  on  his  face  was  an 
expression  she  did  not  understand.  The  Army  man  was 
gazing  toward  one  of  the  lowered  window  shades.  His 
face  was  pale  and  there  was  a  new  sternness  on  his  fea 
tures,  but  there  was  no  mistaking  the  light  of  sorrow  that 
was  smouldering  in  his  eyes.  The  arm  around  her  tight 
ened  its  pressure. 

"Let  us  think  of  this  no  more  just  now,  Miss  Warbur- 
ton,"  he  said,  moodily.  "A  hard  task  is  set  for  each  of 
us  to-day,  and  every  minute  brings  us  nearer  to  the 
'zero  hour.'  If  you  are  to  have  strength  for  the  ordeal, 
you  must  rest." 

With  his  arm  still  around  her,  he  led  her  to  the  couch. 

"You  must  sleep,"  he  said. 

"I'll  try,"  she  sighed.  "Everything  seems  changing 
now.  I  feel  as  if  you  were  about  to  make  all  things  right 
— that  you  are  taking  from  me  the  burden  which  has 
borne  me  down.  Even  the  horror  of  it — but,  no  that 
never  can  pass  away.  And  yet — yet — you,  knowing  all 
I  have  done,  do  not  believe 

She  looked  at  him  pleadingly.  Slowly  he  raised  one  of 
her  hands  to  his  lips. 

"I  think  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  believe  any 
ill  of  you,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  assured  her. 

"Can  you  believe  that,  despite  my  relations  with  the 


THE  NEW  COMRADE  247 

stage  and  the  influence  I  have  exerted  over  Hayden  Stor- 
row,  I  always  have  been  what  even  your  mother  would 
have  described  as  'a  good  woman?' ' 

A  puzzled  frown  came  to  Rennison's  face  as  he  looked 
into  the  e3^es  that  were  regarding  him  with  a  strange 
intensity.  But  he  did  not  speak.  The  hands  of  the 
actress  moved  upward  until  they  rested  on  his  shoulders. 

"It  may  be  that  you  are  the  last  friend  to  whom  I  will 
ever  speak,"  she  whispered.  "Though  I  am  beginning  to 
have  in  you  a  faith  that  is  second  only  to  my  faith  in 
God,  it  still  may  happen  that  I  may  die  to-day.  In 
such  circumstances  it  is  impossible  that  I  should  lie  to 
you.  What  would  be  the  use?  And  so,  my  last  friend — 
my  faithful  comrade — I  am  speaking  truth  when  I  say 
that,  no  matter  what  appearances  have  been,  I  always 
have  been  loyal  to  the  spirit  of  good  womanhood.  Until 
I  blundered  yesterday,  I  always  have  been  able  to  respect 
myself." 

Her  burning,  pleading  gaze  was  still  upon  him.  For 
only  a  moment  longer  did  he  hesitate;  then,  covering  with 
his  own  the  hands  that  rested  on  his  shoulders,  he  said, 
gently : 

"I  believe  you — comrade." 

Tears  gathered  in  her  eyes  and,  as  she  turned  away  her 
burning  lips  touched  one  of  his  hands.  She  was  trembling 
as  she  seated  herself  on  the  couch  and  looked  up  at  him 
again. 

"You  really  do  believe  that?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  and  his  eyes  convinced  her. 

"I  will  sleep  now,"  she  murmured. 

As  her  head  sank  on  the  pillow,  Rennison  stepped  to 
the  bed  and,  after  snatching  up  the  bedspread,  he  placed 


248  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

it  over  the  recumbent  form  on  the  couch.  This  done,  he 
raised  both  shades  and  windows,  thus  admitting  the  early 
morning  light  and  air.  Then  he  extinguished  the  elec 
tric  light,  filled  his  pipe  and  seated  himself  beside  the 
table. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

THE    CURRENT     OF    DESTINY. 

FOR  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  Rennison,  moodily 
puffing  his  pipe,  sat  motionless.  The  city  was  awakening 
now,  and  from  the  street  below  rose  sounds  which  indi 
cated  the  revival  of  day  activities.  The  morning  sun 
shine  flooded  the  room,  and  with  it  came  the  odor  of 
newly  sprinkled  streets. 

During  those  minutes  the  thoughts  of  the  Army  officer 
had  been  occupied  by  a  review  of  the  situation  which  con 
fronted  him  and  a  formulation  of  plans  for  the  day. 
These,  however,  were  more  or  less  fragmentary,  and  all 
were  tentative.  He  knew  that  prior  to  his  arrival  in 
Washington  he  would  be  unable  to  shape  a  course  defi 
nitely.  Meantime,  as  a  result  of  the  information  he  had 
given  to  Towndrow,  the  Government  rapidly  was  mobil 
izing  its  keenest  and  most  trusted  secret  agents  for  the 
work  in  hand  in  Baltimore.  Until  these  reached  their 
appointed  stations,  there  was  nothing  Rennison  could 
do. 

From  time  to  time  the  smoker  beside  the  table  heard  the 
sounds  of  footsteps  in  the  hall.  None  of  these  halted  at 
his  door,  however,  and  he  gave  little  heed  to  them. 

At  length,  after  filling  his  pipe  deliberately,  Rennison 
rose  and  crossed  to  one  of  the  open  windows.  Throwing 
back  one  of  the  white  curtains,  he  looked  out.  On  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street  persons  were  passing  in  and 

249 


250  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

out  of  shopdoors,  while  about  a  score  of  others,  each 
occupied  with  his  or  her  own  reflections,  moved  at  various 
degrees  of  pace  over  the  pavement.  In  the  middle  of  the 
block  an  iceman  was  removing  a  square  of  ice  from  his 
wagon.  A  few  paces  behind  this  a  short,  stout  man  of 
middle  age,  clad  in  a  stained  and  wrinkled  gray  suit,  was 
cranking  a  weatherbeatcn  automobile.  At  the  corner 
below  two  boys  were  hawking  morning  newspapers. 

These  persons  and  objects  failed  to  excite  even  casual 
interest  in  Rennison's  mind,  however,  and  his  gaze  passed 
over  them  quickly.  With  rather  more  care  he  scanned 
several  persons  who  were  standing  still.  He  looked  spec- 
ulativcly  at  three  men  who  were  conversing  together  in- 
front  of  a  tobacco  shop,  then  his  glance  wandered  to  a 
loutish-looking  fellow  who  was  leaning  against  an  electric 
light  pole.  A  little  further  to  the  right,  however,  he  saw 
a  face  that  at  once  challenged  his  attention.  It  was  the 
face  of  a  negro. 

The  eyes  of  the  negro  were  turned  toward  the  window  at 
which  Rennison  was  standing.  The  man,  who  appeared 
to  be  about  thirty  years  old,  was  a  little  above  medium 
height.  He  was  clad  in  a  suit  of  blue  serge  and  also 
wore  a  blue-striped  shirt,  a  green  necktie,  a  high  white 
collar  and  a  Panama  hat.  For  a  couple  of  seconds,  per 
haps,  the  gaze  of  the  brown-skinned  lounger  met  that  of 
the  Army  man  fairly,  then  it  fell  to  the  roadway. 

As  the  negro  turned  and  moved  with  a  slouching  gait 
toward  the  corner  below,  it  occurred  to  Rennison  that 
somewhere,  in  the  last  three  or  four  weeks,  he  had  seen 
the  man  before.  He  still  was  trying  to  identify  him  when, 
after  taking  a  few  steps,  the  fellow  half-turned  and 
looked  over  one  of  his  shoulders.  Again  his  gaze  met 
that  of  Rennison. 


THE  CURRENT  OF  DESTINY  251 

"You're  a  bad  actor,  my  dusky  friend,"  the  Army  man 
muttered.  "That  first  look  you  had  at  me  should  have 
served  your  purpose.  It  should  have  been  enough  for 
you  to  know  I  was  up  and  stirring  and  was  sizing  up  the 
situation  on  the  street.  That's  going  to  be  the  substance 
of  your  report  to  the  chap  you  are  going  to  meet  around 
the  corner.  Then  he'll  make  a  signal  or  two  to  asso 
ciates  on  the  street  and  telephone  messages  will  warn 
other  confederates  inside  this  hotel  to  be  on  their  guard 
— lest  I  get  away  unseen.  That's  all  right — as  far  as 
it  goes.  But  you  should  not  have  turned  to  take  that 
second  squint  at  me.  I  know  you  now.  You  used  to  be 
a  waiter  at  the  Cloister  Club.  Well,  get  them  all  guess 
ing.  It  will  do  them  good." 

The  negro  had  disappeared  around  the  corner  by  this 
time,  and  again  the  gaze  of  Rennison  began  to  wander. 
It  halted  at  the  wide  glass  window  of  a  cheap  restaurant 
opposite.  Through  this  he  saw  two  men  sitting  at  a 
table.  The  eyes  of  both  were  upon  him.  His  observa 
tion  of  them  appeared  to  be  little  more  than  momentary, 
but  the  brief  period  was  enough  to  enable  him  to  make  a 
mental  photograph  of  each. 

"Only  amateur  detectives  would  look  like  that  at  a 
man  they  were  shadowing,"  he  reflected  disgustedly. 
"Well,  we  have  the  description  of  three,  at  least,  of  the 
Brotherhood  men  who  are  to  be  trailed  by  our  boys 
to-day." 

Dropping  the  curtain  he  had  held  aside,  he  left  the 
window  and  returned  to  his  chair  beside  the  table.  After 
reseating  himself,  he  took  a  memoranda  book  from  one 
of  his  pockets  and  jotted  down  descriptions  of  the  three 
men  he  had  taken  to  be  Brotherhood  watchers.  As  he 
returned  the  book  to  his  pocket,  his  glance  fell  again" 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

on  the  recumbent  figure  of  Miriam  Warburton.  Her  face 
was  turned  toward  the  wall,  and  there  was  little  doubt 
that  the  actress,  completely  exhausted  by  the  long  ordeal 
through  which  she  had  passed,  was  sleeping. 

"My  wife,  eh!"  he  muttered.  "And,  while  she  sleeps 
here,  in  my  hotel  room,  I,  watching  over  her,  am  the  only 
protector  she  has  in  the  whole,  wide  world !" 

A  strange  feeling  of  depression  came  over  him.  The 
light  in  his  pipe  went  out,  but  he  did  not  rekindle  it.  As 
the  minutes  went  by,  he  sat,  leaning  forward,  with  his 
elbows  on  his  knees  and  his  chin  resting  on  one  of  his 
hands. 

At  length  the  sleeper  stirred.  A  low  cry  issued  from 
her  lips,  then,  with  quick  movements,  she  rose  to  her 
elbow,  and,  glancing  at  him  over  one  of  her  shoulders, 
turned  toward  him  a  blanched  face  and  wide,  terrified 
eyes. 

Rennison  rose  and  stepped  toward  her.  The  terror  on 
her  features  gave  place  to  an  expression  of  wonder. 

"You — you  are  here?"  she  faltered.  "What  did  Hay- 
den  mean  when — Oh,  it  was — was  just  a  dream,  of 
course." 

She  was  breathing  heavily,  and  Rennison  placed  an 
arm  around  her  to  aid  her  in  her  attempt  to  sit  up. 

"You  have  been  dreaming?"  he  asked,  gently. 

"Yes,"  she  murmured.  "I  thought  I  heard  the  sound 
of  struggling  in  another  room.  Then,  it  seemed  to  me, 
Hayden  came  to  me  and  told  me  you  had  been  killed — 
that  he  knew  I  had  deceived  him,  and  that,  as  a  result 
of  my  baseness  to  him,  I,  too,  would  have  to  die.  But 
Hayden  has  not  been  here?" 

"No,  dear,  he  has  not  been  here,"  Rennison  answered, 
patting  her  head  as  if  she  were  a  child. 


THE  CURRENT  OF  DESTINY  253 

"And  nothing  terrible  has  happened?" 

"Nothing." 

Reassured,  she  sighed  and  grasped  one  of  his  hands. 

"It  is  good  to  know—      "  she  began,  and  stopped. 

"What  is  the  knowledge  that  makes  you  glad?"  he 
asked,  as  she  continued  silent. 

"It  is  good  to  know  that  you  are  with  me — that  you 
believe  in  me — that  you  are  my  friend,"  she  went  on, 
abstractedly.  "I  have  known  of  you  for  a  long,  long 
time.  I  always  thought,  though,  you  were  a  man  to  be 
feared.  I  did  not  suspect  you  could  be  kind — like  this." 

"My  friends  would  tell  you  that  I  am  not  a  hard  man," 
Rennison  protested,  chidingly.  "The  work  I  have  to 
do  is  not  of  my  own  choosing.  If  I " 

"Ah,   you   are  more   fortunate   than   I,   then — if   you 

have   friends,"   she  sighed.      "I  have   none.      For  years, 
j » 

"Did  you  not  tell  me  I  was  one  of  your  friends — just 
before  you  went  to  sleep?" 

"Yes — yes,  I  told  you  that,  for,  last  night,  you  laid 
bare  my  soul,  and,  after  you  saw  it,  you  said  you  still 
believed  in  me." 

"I  do." 

"You  believe  I  did  not  mean  to  kill  poor  Channing?" 

"I  believe  you  did  not  mean  to  do  so." 

"And  that  I  have  not  been  a  bad  woman?" 

"I  am  certain  you  are  a  good  woman." 

Slipping  her  hands  over  his  shoulders,  she  clasped 
them  back  of  his  neck. 

"Something  may  happen — something  may  take  you 
from  me  before  I  wake,"  she  whispered.  "Since  we  met, 
you  have  not  looked  at  me  the  way  other  men  have  done. 
You  have  been  stern,  kindly  and  then  stern  again — like 


854  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

a  brother  who  corrects  his  sister's  faults.  Perhaps  the 
circumstances  in  which  you  found  me  made  you  that  way. 
But  I  am  trying  to  think  differently.  Instead  of  treating 
me  like  a  criminal,  when  you  found  I  had  done  wrong, — 
that  I  had  been  led  into  error — you  made  me,  almost 
against  my  will,  prove  my  innocence.  You  have  accepted 
my  comradeship.  You  believe  in  me.  So  kiss  me  now — 
good-night." 

"But  this  is  only  the  beginning  of  the  day,'*  Rennison 
protested,  smilingly. 

"No,"  Miriam  sighed.  "It  is  the  beginning  of  a  night 
— a  long,  dark,  fearsome  night.  You  called  me  'dear' 
when  you  were  trying  to  comfort  me  a  while  ago.  Do  you 
remember  that  you  did?  Well,  now  it  seems  the  most 
natural  thing  in  the  world  that  you  should  kiss  me  good 
night." 

As  their  lips  met  and  Rennison  looked  into  the  narrow 
ing,  shining  eyes  of  the  beautiful  woman  whose  arms 
were  clasping  him  more  tightly,  he  became  conscious  of 
a  sensation  that  never  had  come  to  him  before — a  sensa 
tion  that  was  as  overwhelming  as  it  was  sudden — a  sense 
of  depression,  suffocation,  fear.  Almost  breathlessly  he 
tried  to  fight  it  off,  but  it  benumbed  his  efforts. 

The  hands  of  the  actress  fell  from  his  shoulders  and  her 
head  drooped  as  he  half-thrust  her  from  him.  Her  figure 
became  inert  as  he  guided  her  head  to  the  pillow.  The 
lids  closed  over  her  eyes,  and  her  pallid  features  were 
expressionless.  For  several  moments,  alarmed  by  the 
change  that  had  come  over  her,  Rennison  feared  she  had 
fainted.  Perhaps  this  was  so,  but  he  soon  saw  that, 
though  she  appeared  to  be  in  a  trance,  her  breathing  was 
regular  and  she  was  sleeping. 

Rennison  again  drew  the  counterpane  over  the  young 


THE  CURRENT  OF  DESTINY  255 

woman's  shoulders,  and  stepped  back.  As  he  picked  up 
his  tobacco  pouch  from  the  table,  he  looked  at  his  shak 
ing  hands  with  wonder  and  resentment.  Once  more  he 
stepped  over  to  the  window.  This  time,  however,  he  did 
not  thrust  the  curtain  aside  as  he  looked  out.  Through 
the  filmy  fabric  he  was  able  to  see  clearly  persons  and 
objects  in  the  street  and  on  the  pavement  opposite.  His 
first  glance  outside  revealed  something  that  immediately 
held  his  attention. 

Directly  across  the  street  stood  a  large,  black-bodied 
touring  car  that  looked  rather  the  worse  for  wear.  On 
the  chauffeur's  seat  sat  a  slouchy-looking  man,  with  his 
legs  crossed  and  an  arm  over  the  steering  wheel.  He  wore 
a  stained,  ill-shaped  golf  cap  and  a  long,  gray  coat  of 
light  material  that  was  torn  in  several  places.  He  had 
an  oddly  hooked  nose,  a  small  moustache  and  two-days* 
growth  of  beard  on  his  face.  He  was  puffing  languidly 
at  a  short,  black  pipe  as  he  talked  with  a  seedy,  gray- 
haired  man  who  stood  on  the  pavement. 

Rennison  stepped  back  quickly,  and  an  expression  of 
pleased  surprise  drove  the  frown  from  his  face. 

"Good  old  Carrick!"  he  mused.  "Back  from  Charles 
ton,  eh — just  in  time  to  get  into  the  big  end  of  the  game. 
And  you  have  Wilmer  with  you,  too.  Well,  Major,  you, 
at  least,  must  not  be  kept  guessing." 

He  was  about  to  extend  a  hand  to  thrust  the  window 
curtain  aside  when  a  new  thought  came  to  him.  Again 
he  glanced  at  the  sleeping  woman  on  the  couch. 

Once  more  the  pallid  face  of  the  beautiful  actress 
unnerved  him.  She  was  breathing  regularly,  and  it 
seemed  to  him  that  her  features  were  softer  and  le»s 
mask-like  than  they  had  been  when  he  had  looked  upon 
them  last.  Then  there  suddenly  came  to  him  a  realiza- 


256  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

tion  of  the  fact  that  he,  not  Seafalcon,  was  the  arbiter  of 
her  destiny  now.  Around  him  the  Federal  Government 
already  had  assembled  agencies  that  were  sufficient  to 
effect  her  rescue.  A  word  from  him  would  bring  them 
into  action.  Within  half  an  hour  it  would  be  possible 
for  those  agencies  to  snatch  Miriam  Warburton,  un 
harmed,  from  the  grasp  of  the  secret  forces  which  men 
aced  her. 

But,  with  the  knowledge  of  this  fact,  there  came  the 
recognition  of  another.  The  rescue  of  the  actress  would 
be  followed  by  the  utter  collapse  of  the  plan  of  cam 
paign  that  was  being  designed  to  effect  the  capture  of 
Seafalcon  within  the  next  twenty-four  hours.  The  suc 
cess  of  this  campaign  depended  wholly  on  the  enemy's 
belief  that  Miriam  was  working  in  the  interest  of  the 
Brotherhood  and  was  causing  the  Government's  most 
powerful  agent  to  do  her  will. 

A  thrill  passed  through  Rennison  as  a  sound  came  to 
him  through  the  open  window.  Only  faintly  perceptible 
at  first,  it  gradually  grew  louder.  With  drops  of  per 
spiration  gathering  on  his  forehead,  the  listening  man 
quickly  identified  it.  It  was  the  drone  of  an  approaching 
airplane. 

The  sound  gave  to  Rennison  no  cause  for  speculation. 
Its  significance  was  clear  to  him.  Major  Carrick,  now 
sitting  at  the  wheel  of  the  touring  car  opposite,  was  one 
of  the  most  expert  signal  men  in  the  Army.  The  car  in 
which  he  was  awaiting  developments  was,  despite  its 
weather-worn  appearance,  as  speedy  and  dependable  as 
the  art  of  man  could  make  it.  But,  in  addition  to  speed 
and  the  perfection  of  its  running  gear,  this  car  was  pro 
vided  with  certain  equipment  that  made  it  one  of  the 


THE  CURRENT  OF  DESTINY  257 

most  prized  possessions  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intel 
ligence. 

Projecting  from  the  side  of  the  car,  on  the  left  of  the 
driver,  was  an  appliance  that  could  have  been  regarded 
as  nothing  else  than  the  usual  form  of  mirror  designed 
to  enable  the  driver  to  see  a  reflection  of  the  road  behind 
him.  It  was  more  than  this,  but  knowledge  of  its  use 
fulness  was  limited  to  scarcely  more  than  a  score  of  the 
most  trusted  secret  agents  of  the  government.  The  sup 
posed  mirror  was  a  projector  of  the  "Comus  Ray,'*  the 
result  of  an  accidental  discovery  made  by  an  obscure 
scientist.  Before  the  nature  of  the  discovery  obtained 
publicity,  chance  led  to  its  revelation  to  a  well-known 
millionaire,  who,  during  the  World  War,  had  been  at 
tached  to  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence.  By  him 
the  secret  was  acquired  from  the  discoverer  and  presented 
to  the  Government. 

Invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  this  mysterious  ray,  of  a 
greenish-yellow  hue  and  capable  of  being  projected  sev 
eral  miles,  was  plainly  discernible,  during  the  period  of 
daylight,  through  lenses  of  a  certain  color.  At  night, 
however,  it  was  indistinguishable.  Manipulated  in  the 
manner  of  heliographic  rays,  it  served  the  same  purpose 
for  signalling. 

Generated  by  apparatus  concealed  in  the  car,  the  in 
visible  ray  could  be  flashed  at  will  by  Carrick  as  he  sat 
on  the  driver's  seat.  A  lever  under  one  of  his  feet  en 
abled  him  to  change  the  angle  of  the  supposed  mirror. 
A  button  on  the  wheel  made  it  possible  for  him  to  make 
the  beam  yield"  code  dots  and  dashes.  Equipped  with 
similar  apparatus,  an  aviator,  in  an  airplane  overhead, 
could  signal  in  like  manner  to  the  car,  the  position  of 


258  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

which  always  could  be  determined  by  the  direction  of  its 
ray. 

In  a  few  moments  the  drone  of  the  airplane  became 
fainter.  It  was  moving  to  the  south  of  the  city.  But 
its  purpose  had  been  accomplished.  Its  sound  had  con 
veyed  to  Carrick  the  assurance  that  it  was  within  the 
compass  of  his  signals  and  awaited  his  commands. 

Seafalcon  was  in  Baltimore  and  the  Federal  machinery 
which  was  designed  to  effect  his  capture  already  was  in 
motion — on  land,  in  the  air,  and  on  the  waters  of  the 
Patapsco  and  the  Chesapeake.  Was  it  not  possible  that 
the  end  might  be  attained  without  the  sacrifice  of  this 
woman's  life?  To  yield  her  to  the  agents  of  Seafalcon 
would  mean  almost  certain  death.  The  decision  lay  with 
George  Rennison,  a  captain  in  the  United  States  Army. 
He  had  merely  to  signal  to  the  man  in  the  touring  car 
opposite,  and  the  rescue  of  Miriam  Warburton  would  be 
effected  in  less  than  ten  minutes.  But 

The  door  had  not  been  opened,  but  now  there  seemed  to 
be  a  third  person  in  the  room — the  one  who  had  entered 
Miriam's  troubled  dream.  Addressing  the  disordered 
fancy  of  the  Army  officer,  he  said: 

"Last  night  I  was  a  man.  To-day  I  am  something 
less — and  more.  You,  George  Rennison,  bade  me  choose 
loyalty  to  country  or  this  woman.  I  made  my  choice. 
I  met  the  test.  Now  that  the  bearer  of  the  bitter  cup 
has  come  to  you,  you  shall  not  fail. 

And,  as  Rennison  made  his  choice,  his  set  purpose  gave 
an  expression  of  sternness  to  his  face.  A  little  exclama 
tion  caused  him  to  turn  toward  the  couch. 

"Good   woman,"   Miriam   murmured,   in   her   sleep. 

"Good  woman,"  Rennison  muttered,  nodding  assent. 
"But,  Storrow,  you  are  right.  I  shall  not  fail." 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

AN  EYE   BLOCKADE. 

LEAVING  the  window,  Rennison  drew  out  his  watch  and 
looked  at  its  face.  It  was  twenty-five  minutes  after 
seven.  The  thought  now  came  to  him  to  communicate 
to  Carrick  descriptions  of  the  men  he  had  identified  as 
spies.  These  descriptions  would  enable  Federal  agents 
to  shadow  them  when  they  should  have  occasion  to  report 
to  their  superiors. 

Such  information  could  not  be  signalled  from  the 
window,  of  course,  without  making  Carrick,  himself,  an 
object  of  suspicion.  But  other  means  of  communication 
were  at  hand.  The  gaze  of  the  Army  man  swept  the 
room  thoughtfully,  then  rested  on  the  table. 

As  a  smoker,  Rennison  preferred  a  pipe  to  cigars. 
While  talking  with  Miss  Warburton,  however,  he  had 
lighted  two  cigars,  which,  only  half  smoked,  now  lay  on 
the  ash-tray  on  the  table.  The  methods  of  employing  the 
"stump  post"  were  as  familiar  to  Carrick  as  they  were 
to  him.  Concealed  in  one  of  these  "stumps,"  a  note 
might  be  flung  from  the  window  in  such  a  manner  that 
the  action  would  mean  nothing  to  any  person  who  had 
not  received  a  signal  to  pick  it  up. 

Rennison  was  about  to  detach  a  leaf  from  his  memo 
randum  book  for  the  purpose  of  putting  the  idea  into 
execution  when  a  new  thought  came  to  him,  and  he  hesi- 

259 


260  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

tated.  Once  more  he  glanced  at  the  sleeping  actress  on 
the  couch. 

The  Army  man  reflected  that  by  flinging  the  concealed 
note  to  the  street  he  would  be  taking  a  double  hazard. 
Against  him  were  pitted  some  of  Seafalcon's  shrewdest 
and  most  resourceful  agents,  and  it  was  possible  that  to 
one  or  more  of  these  the  nature  of  the  "stump  post"  was 
known.  Should  the  note  fall  into  the  hand  of  one  of 
these  the  course  he  was  pursuing  would  be  revealed  and 
the  doom  of  Miriam  Warburton  must  be  regarded  as 
inevitable.  On  the  other  hand,  should  the  cigar  be  picked 
up  by  Carrick  or  one  of  his  associates,  the  vigilant 
Brotherhood  men  would  be  quick  to  realize  that  he  was 
in  communication  with  Federal  agents,  and  the  result,  so 
far  as  the  actress  was  concerned,  would  be  the  same. 

He  returned  the  memorandum  book  to  the  pocket  from 
which  he  had  taken  it,  but  picked  up  one  of  the  "stumps" 
from  the  tray  and  lighted  it.  Puffing  at  the  cigar,  he 
strode  to  the  window  and  threw  back  one  of  the  lace 
curtains.  The  apparently  careless  glance  with  which  he 
swept  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  met  that  of  Carrick 
and  passed  on. 

Conscious  now  that  every  movement  made  by  him  was 
being  carefully  watched  by  friendly  eyes,  the  man  at  the 
open  window  brushed,  with  his  left  hand,  imaginary  ash 
from  the  right  lapel  of  his  coat.  This  was  the  "stump 
signal."  The  observer  now  would  understand  that  should 
the  cigar  be  tossed  away  with  the  right  hand  it  should  be 
picked  up ;  tossed  with  the  left,  it  was  to  be  disregarded. 

It  was  with  his  left  hand,  however,  that  Rennison 
flicked  the  cigar  to  the  street.  It  fell  between  the  rails 
of  a  surface  car  track. 


AN  EYE  BLOCKADE  261 

Without  looking  again  toward  Carrick,  Rennison  drew 
back  and  let  the  curtain  fall.  Thus  screened  from  view, 
he  glanced  once  more  at  the  automobile  across  the  street. 
Carrick's  back  was  toward  him,  but  Wilmer,  with  whom 
the  Major  still  was  conversing,  was  manifestly  alert.  A 
moment  later  a  trolley  car  hid  the  machine  from  Ren- 
nison's  gaze. 

Scarcely  had  the  car  passed,  however,  when  a  short, 
powerfully  built  man  of  middle  age,  clad  in  a  wrinkled 
gray  suit,  appeared  in  the  roadway.  From  one  of  his 
hands  fell  a  soiled  handkerchief.  In  picking  it  up,  he 
dropped  it  again — this  time  over  the  cigar  Rennison  had 
tossed  to  the  street.  When  he  thrust  the  handkerchief 
into  one  of  his  pockets  the  cigar  went  with  it. 

Rennison  watched  the  stranger  grimly  as  the  man 
stepped  up  on  the  opposite  sidewalk  and  walked  briskly 
away. 

"Quick  work,  that,"  he  mused.  And  he  wondered  what 
would  have  happened  had  he  placed  a  message  in  the  cigar 
and  had  given  a  "pick-up"  signal  to  Carrick. 

"Carrick  would  not  have  let  him  get  away  with  it,  of 
course,"  he  reflected,  "but  its  recovery  would  have  made 
it  clear  to  Seafalcon's  friends  that  they  are  being  double- 
crossed  by  Miriam  Warburton  and  her  supposed  dupe." 

As  it  was,  however,  the  picking  up  of  the  cigar  by  one 
of  Seafalcon's  men  would  serve  a  useful  purpose.  The 
action  of  Rennison  in  throwing  the  cigar  to  the  street 
plainly  had  led  the  enemy  to  suspect  that  he  was  attempt 
ing  to  communicate  with  some  associate.  But  this  "asso 
ciate"  had  failed  to  appear  and  an  examination  of  the 
"stump"  would  be  sufficient  to  completely  disarm  sus 
picion,  with  the  result  that  the  enemy  would  feel  greater 


262  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

confidence  in  his  plans  than  would  have  been  probable 
had  the  incident  of  the  cigar  not  occurred. 

As  Rennison  stepped  back  from  the  window,  he  realized 
that  preparations  for  his  departure  must  be  made  quickly. 
Glancing  toward  the  couch,  he  saw  that  Miriam  appeared 
to  be  sleeping  soundly.  His  lips  were  compressed  as,  with 
his  hands  thrust  into  the  pockets  of  his  trousers,  he  paced 
thoughtfully  to  and  fro.  At  length,  turning  abruptly, 
he  crossed  to  the  telephone  and  took  down  the  receiver. 
The  number  for  which  he  called  was  that  of  the  War 
Department,  in  Washington.  He  had  directed  Jimmy  to 
remain  at  the  switchboard  until  nine  o'clock,  and  it  was 
Jimmy's  voice  that  responded. 

Conscious  now  that  all  he  was  about  to  say  over  the 
wire  would  be  recorded  and  reported  to  the  enemy,  Ren 
nison  prepared  to  accomplish  a  double  purpose.  First, 
it  was  essential  that  his  associates  in  the  quest  should 
know  that  all  was  going  well  with  him  and  that  he  would 
be  in  Washington  by  ten  o'clock.  Second,  it  was  time 
that  the  enemy  should  have  reason  to  believe  that  he 
already  was  moving  to  obtain  possession  of  the  papers 
which  had  been  taken  from  the  body  of  Channing.  Ac 
cordingly,  having  recognized  the  voice  at  the  other  end 
of  the  wire,  Rennison  asked  perfunctorily: 

"Is  that  you,  Jimmy?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"This  is  Severn  speaking.'* 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Well,  before  you  connect  me  with  Colonel  Hawkshurst, 
Jimmy,  I  am  going  to  ask  you  to  do  something  for  me. 
I  am  in  Baltimore  and  before  I  left  Washington  last  night 
I  had  no  time  to  go  to  my  rooms  for  my  suitcase.  I  will 
be  at  the  department  at  ten  o'clock,  but  will  be  too  busy 


AN  EYE  BLOCKADE  263 

to  get  to  the  hotel.  I  want  you  to  get  some  things  from 
my  room.  Meet  me  in  Colonel  Hawkshurst's  office  at  that 
hour,  and  I  will  tell  you  what  to  do." 

"All  right,  sir." 

"Now  give  me  the  Colonel's  office." 

The  Colonel's  usual  hour  for  reporting  at  his  office  was 
nine  o'clock,  but  Rennison  knew  that,  as  a  result  of  the 
message  he  had  sent  to  Towndrow,  the  head  of  the  Bureau 
of  Secret  Military  Intelligence  had  been  at  his  desk 
before  seven  this  morning.  While  he  was  waiting  for  the 
connection,  Rennison  reflected,  with  some  misgiving,  that 
this  unusual  early  activity  in  the  Colonel's  office  might 
excite  suspicion  among  the  agents  of  Seaf  alcon  and  cause 
them  to  act  more  warily.  It  was  essential,  therefore,  that 
what  was  said  over  the  wire  should  be  of  a  nature  to 
reassure  them. 

At  length  the  voice  of  Hawkshurst  responded. 

"Hello,"  it  said. 

"This  is  Rennison,  Colonel." 

"Good  morning,  Captain." 

The  speaker  at  the  Baltimore  end  of  the  wire  knew  that 
his  chief  was  aware  that  the  enemy  was  "listening  in," 
and  that  the  conversation  was  to  be  regarded  as  having 
a  dual  purpose. 

"I  scarcely  expected  to  find  you  at  your  office  so 
early,"  Rennison  went  on. 

"It  is  probable  that  I  may  be  called  out  of  town  to-day, 
and  there  are  some  things  that  must  be  attended  to  here 
before  I  go,"  Hawkshurst  replied. 

"I  am  in  Baltimore,  but  will  be  at  the  department  at 
ten  o'clock,"  Rennison  explained.  "Will  I  be  able  to 
see  you  then?" 

"Is  it  in  connection  with  a  matter  of  importance?" 


264  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Yes.  It  has  to  do  with  the  papers  which  were  taken 
from  Channing,  at  the  Weymouthshire.  I  am  going  to 
ask  you  to  take  no  further  action  concerning  the  matter 
until  after  I  have  seen  you  this  morning." 

"I  will  respect  your  wishes  in  the  matter,  of  course, 
Rennison.  I  will  expect  you,  then,  at  ten." 

"At  ten,  Colonel.  Meantime,  please  regard  as  quite 
unfounded  the  suspicions  I  expressed  last  night  concern 
ing  Horsford.  I  am  thoroughly  convinced  that  I  was 
mistaken.  The  papers  I  withheld  from  him  must  be  given 
to  him  to-day." 

Rennison  heard  his  chief  clear  his  throat  before  re 
plying. 

"I  am  glad  to  learn  my  views  of  those  suspicions  were 
correct,  Rennison.  Despite  your  representations  on  the 
subject,  my  confidence  in  the  integrity  of  Horsford  has 
remained  unshaken." 

"At  ten  o'clock,  then,  Colonel." 

"All  right,  Rennison." 

The  Army  officer  smiled  grimly  as  he  hung  up  the 
receiver.  But  in  another  moment  the  smile  was  gone. 
Again  his  gaze  rested  on  the  recumbent  young  woman 
on  the  couch.  It  was  time  to  waken  her  and  bid  her 
farewell. 

Rennison  crossed  the  floor  slowly  and  laid  a  hand  gently 
on  one  of  the  shoulders  of  the  sleeper,  whose  face  now 
was  turned  toward  the  wall.  The  actress  stirred  languidly 
and  opened  her  eyes.  An  expression  of  fear  overspread 
her  face,  and,  with  a  quick  movement,  she  raised  to  one 
of  her  elbows. 

For  several  moments  each,  gazing  at  the  other,  was 
silent.  As  the  dread  faded  slowly  from  Miriam's  eyes, 


AN  EYE  BLOCKADE  265 

it  seemed  to  find  increasing  expression  on  the  face  and 
in  the  eyes  of  the  waiting  Army  officer. 

"It  is  time — time  for  you  to  go?"  the  actress  faltered. 

Rennison  nodded,  and  once  more  fear  gripped  his  spirit 
and  accelerated  the  beating  of  his  heart. 

"Yes,"  he  answered  thickly.  "In  a  few  minutes  I  must 
be  on  rny  way  to  Washington.'* 

He  turned  away  and  walked  slowly  toward  a  window. 
As  he  moved  she  saw  the  clenching  and  unclenching  of 
the  hands  he  had  clasped  behind  him.  She  threw  back  the 
coverlet  and  watched  him  with  a  strange  intentness  as 
she  swung  her  feet  to  the  floor  and  rose.  In  the  aspect 
of  Rennison  now  there  was  something  which  seemed  to 
belie  his  reputation  as  "a  man  with  nerves  of  steel."  A 
shadow  came  over  her  features  as  she  stepped  toward  the 
dressing-case  and,  leaning  toward  the  mirror,  began  to 
arrange  her  disordered  hair. 

For  several  moments  the  silence  of  the  room  was  broken 
only  by  sounds  that  entered  it  through  the  open  windows 
— the  cries  of  newsboys,  the  tooting  of  automobile  horns 
and  the  clang  of  trolley-car  gongs. 

Looking  out  of  the  window,  Rennison  saw  that  Carrick 
and  his  automobile  had  disappeared. 

When  the  army  man  turned  from  the  window,  Miriam, 
her  back  to  the  mirror,  was  leaning  against  the  dressing- 
case,  with  her  hands  resting  on  its  marble  top.  She  was 
the  first  to  speak,  and  in  her  voice  was  a  strange,  metallic 
note  that  startled  him. 

"You  are  ready  to  see  it  through?"  she  asked. 

His  hands  moved  from  behind  him  and  sank  deeper  into 
the  outer  pockets  of  his  coat.  A  new  sternness  had  settled 
on  his  face,  but  she  saw  the  pity  in  his  eyes.  The  huski- 


266  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

ness  had  left  his  voice,  which  was  softly  vibrant  now  with 
an  unmistakable  tone  of  decision. 

"Yes,  Miss  Warburton,  we  must  see  it  through,"  he 
said. 

And  she  knew  the  speaker  was  again  the  man  "with 
nerves  of  steel.'* 


CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

THE    FIRES    OF    FAITH. 

LEAVING  the  dressing-case  by  which  she  had  been 
standing,  Miriam  crossed  to  a  rocking-chair  near  the 
table. 

"Did  your  sleep  refresh  you?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Yes,"  she  answered.  "Though  it  seemed  little  more 
than  a  succession  of  harassing  dreams,  it  did  refresh  me, 
and  I  feel  stronger  now.  But  you — you  have  had  none. 
And  you  have  so  much  to  do  before  you  will  have  a  chance 
to  sleep  again." 

"I  slept  a  little  before  your  arrival  here.  It  was  quite 
sufficient,  I  think." 

The  actress  darted  a  quick,  apprehensive  glance  toward 
the  door.  Rennison  placed  a  chair  beside  her  and  sat 
down. 

"Have  you  had  any  means  of  learning  whether  your 
friends  have  begun  to  cooperate  with  you?"  she  inquired. 

"Yes,"  Rennison  replied.  "The  most  resourceful  secret 
agents  of  the  Government  have  been  hurried  here  and  now 
are  within  signalling  distance  of  us.  My  one  fear  is  that 
one  or  more  of  them  may  be  identified  by  our  foes.  If 
this  should  happen,  and  you  should  learn  of  the  fact,  you 
must  do  your  utmost  to  cause  them  to  believe  that  it  is 
you  they  have  under  surveillance.  Later  in  the  day  you 
may  even  go  so  far  as  to  express  the  fear  that  they  have 
found  reason  to  doubt  my  good  faith  and  are  trying  to 
fasten  the  crime  of  treason  upon  me." 

267 


268  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

The  actress  laid  a  hand  on  one  of  his  arms. 

"What  else  am  I  to  do?'*  she  asked. 

"You  will  tell  Kerfoot  that  when  you  found  me  here 
the  papers  no  longer  were  in  my  possession,  but  that 
eventually  you  persuaded  me  to  undertake  the  task  of 
recovering  them  and  placing  them  in  your  hands  before 
midnight.  You  will  tell  him  also  that  Horsford  will 
serve  as  our  medium  of  communication,  and  that  the 
Brotherhood  should  get  into  touch  with  him  by  four 
o'clock." 

There  was  a  pause,  then  Rennison  went  on: 

"From  the  moment  I  leave  you  your  part  will  be  merely 
a  passive  one.  Make  no  attempt  to  obtain  information 
to  be  given  to  me  or  other  Federal  agents,  for  that  would 
invite  suspicion.  Above  all,  keep  unimpaired  your  con 
fidence  in  the  success  of  our  enterprise,  and  be  sure  that 
by  sundown  to-morrow  the  object  for  which  we  are  striv 
ing  will  have  been  attained,  and  that  you  will  be  freed 
from  the  grip  in  which  you  will  be  held  to-day." 

The  actress,  looking  at  the  floor,  nodded  assent. 

"Yes,"  she  murmured,  "I  will  be  free." 

Rennison  frowned  as  he  took  her  hands  in  his. 

"If  we  are  to  succeed,  it  must  be  in  the  light  of  the 
fires  of  your  faith,"  he  said. 

"They  have  been  kindled — for  you,"  Miriam  replied. 

The  faces  of  both  were  tense  as  they  looked  toward 
one  of  the  windows ;  then  Miriam's  eyes  became  expressive 
of  new  alarm  and  anxiety. 

"You  must  not  think  of  me  until  you  have  done  what 
you  are  setting  out  to  do,"  she  warned  him.  "The  death 
of  poor  Channing  must  be  avenged.  Until  then  you  must 
give  no  thought  to  me.  You  must  be  strong.  Despite 
what  I  have  done,  I  will  dare  to  pray.  And  my  prayers 


THE  FIRES  OF  FAITH  269 

will  be  all  for  you — that  you  may  be  strong  and  resource 
ful — that  you  may  be  what  you  always  have  been — that 
our  enemies  may  fall  into  your  hands." 

As  the  grim-faced  man  looked  into  her  eyes  he  saw  she 
had  spoken  truly,  for  they  were  aglow  with  the  light  of 
a  newly  kindled  faith.  His  breathing  quickened,  and  a 
slowly  growing  wonder  confused  his  thoughts.  He  felt 
her  gently  withdrawing  her  hands  from  his,  but  he  made 
no  attempt  to  retain  them.  She  moved  from  him,  but  he 
did  not  turn  to  observe  her  actions.  His  thoughts  had 
turned  backward.  Once  more,  in  his  fancy,  he  was 
following  her,  step  by  step,  as  she  traversed  a  pathway 
in  the  Valley  of  Death.  A  strange  fatality  moved  with 
her.  Men  spoke  to  her,  and  died — Channing,  Reif- 
snyder,  Storrow.  Twice,  while  he  was  in  her  presence, 
the  cup  of  death  had  been  raised  to  his  own  lips — once 
when  she  had  tried  to  thrust  into  his  hands  the  "flower 
of  immortality,'*  and  again  when  his  gaze  met  hers  over 
the  barrel  of  a  pistol. 

And  it  was  the  voice  of  this  woman  who,  in  the  darkness 
of  the  night,  had  lured  him  toward  lurking  enemies  in  the 
rain-soaked  wood.  It  was  she  who  later  roused  him  from 
his  sleep  to  bid  him  resume  his  journey  along  her  death- 
trail  until,  passing  her  own  lifeless  body,  he  should  achieve 
the  capture  of  civilization's  scourge,  Seafalcon. 

He  had  looked  upon  her  while  her  mind  ran  the  scale 
of  human  emotions.  On  her  features  he  had  seen  the 
changing  expressions  of  wonder,  guilt,  suspicion,  hate, 
confidence,  distrust,  despair,  comradeship  and  martyrdom. 
And  he  had  seen  more — something  that  could  shine  upon 
a  man  only  from  the  eyes  of  a  woman — something  that 
no  man  might  misunderstand.  Miriam  Warburton  had 
been  a  professional  actress,  of  course,  but  Rennison  knew 


270  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

that  art  could  not  simulate  those  flashes  which  had  come 
to  him  from  this  harassed  woman's  tortured  soul. 

A  little  rattling  sound  behind  him  quickly  put  these 
fancies  to  flight.  He  turned  toward  his  companion  as 
he  had  turned  when  a  somewhat  similar  sound  had  at 
tracted  his  attention  on  the  night  before.  On  the  former 
occasion  he  saw  Miriam  Warburton  looking  at  him  over 
a  pistol  which  she  had  taken  from  a  table  drawer.  Now 
he  saw  her  quietly  placing  on  the  table  his  hat  and  walking- 
stick,  which  she  had  taken  from  a  chair  in  a  corner  of 
the  room.  On  her  features  was  an  expression  such  as 
knights  of  old  might  have  seen  on  the  faces  of  women 
they  loved — wives  or  sweethearts — when  their  fair  hands 
offered  helmets  and  swords  that  were  to  be  borne  away 
to  the  wars. 

Smiling  faintly,  Rennison  again  took  the  hands  of  the 
actress. 

"You  will  have  no  fear  after  I  leave  you?"  he  asked. 

"None,"  Miriam  replied,  with  a  shake  of  her  head. 

"And  you  will  believe  that  those  mysterious  influences 
which  brought  us  together  and  made  us  comrades  will 
guide  us  and  protect  us  until  we  meet  again?" 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  tremulously. 

Bending,  Rennison  raised  to  his  lips  first  one  of  her 
hands  and  then  the  other.  As  she  withdrew  her  hands  and 
stood  upright,  there  came  to  him  an  impulse  to  encircle 
her  with  his  arms,  strain  her  to  him  and  kiss  her  lips. 
But  he  dared  not.  Fear  gripped  him  again — fear  that 
contact  with  her  would  weaken  in  them  both  the  will  for 
the  stern  sacrifice  to  which  they  had  steeled  their  souls — 
fear  that  an  intensified  desire  to  live  might  dominate  them 
in  the  struggle  they  were  about  to  wage  with  Seafalcon. 

Then,  suddenly,  Rennison  became  aware  that  Miriam 


THE  FIRES  OF  FAITH  271 

had  taken  his  hat  and  cane  from  the  table  and  was  holding 
them  out  to  him.  His  hands  trembled  as,  still  avoiding 
her  gaze,  he  took  them  from  her.  Not  until  he  laid  a 
hand  on  the  key  in  the  lock  of  the  door  did  it  occur  to 
him  that  his  failure  to  speak  might  have  wounded  her. 
He  turned  toward  her  slowly  and  raised  his  eyes. 

Standing  erect,  with  one  hand  resting  on  the  table  and 
the  other  at  her  bosom,  Miriam  was  looking  at  him.  She 
was  smiling,  and  now  there  was  color  on  the  cheeks  and 
brow  that  had  been  pallid  for  so  many  hours.  Her  eyes 
were  radiant  with  a  new  light  that  had  come  to  them. 
The  eloquence  of  smile  and  eyes  bespoke  the  joy  and  pity 
felt  by  the  weak  in  the  moment  of  triumph  over  the  strong, 
the  exultation  of  feminine  power,  pride  in  a  newly  won 
possession  and  the  certainty  of  requited  love. 

For  several  seconds  each,  standing  motionless,  gazed 
steadfastly  at  the  other.  Rennison's  face  grew  paler  as 
Miriam's  color  heightened.  His  shaking  fingers  fumbled 
the  key  as  he  turned  it  in  the  lock.  His  feet  moved 
clumsily  as  he  drew  back  from  the  door  he  was  opening. 
Again  averting  his  gaze  he  passed  on,  with  bowed  head, 
to  the  threshold.  There  he  stopped,  and  turned  slowly 
toward  her.  Once  more  he  stood  upright.  He  smiled, 
and  into  his  glance  came  something  of  the  triumph  that 
had  marked  her  own.  Then  the  door  closed,  and  he  was 
gone. 

The  smile  now  faded  from  the  lips  of  the  woman  who 
was  left  alone.  The  color  left  her  face  and  a  hunted 
expression  crept  into  her  eyes.  Breathing  with  difficulty, 
she  took  a  few  steps  toward  one  of  the  open  windows,  then 
crossed  to  the  couch  and  sank  down  upon  it.  Her  first 
impulse  was  to  bury  her  face  in  the  pillow,  but  she 
promptly  resisted  it. 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

All  the  power  of  her  will  now  was  exerted  to  bring  under 
restraint  the  emotions  to  which  she  had  been  giving  rein. 
Her  gaze  was  on  the  door.  She  listened  for  approaching 
footsteps  on  the  carpeted  floor  of  the  hall,  for  she 
believed  these  would  precede  a  knocking  on  the  door. 
But  she  heard  none.  - 

The  knocking,  soft  and  sinister,  came  without  warning. 
Its  very  suddenness  benumbed  and  dazed  her.  Breath 
lessly  and  silently  she  waited. 

The  knocking  was  repeated,  rather  louder  than  before. 

Miriam  rose  slowly  and  started  toward  the  door.  Be 
fore  she  reached  it,  however,  it  moved  inward.  Then  a 
man  entered  the  room  and  closed  and  locked  the  door  be 
hind  him. 

It  was  Kerfoot! 


CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

THE   MIDDLEMAN. 

WITH  his  elbows  resting  on  the  arms  of  his  chair,  Andrew 
Horsford,  Assistant  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  stared 
blankly  at  a  little  pile  of  unopened  letters  that  lay 
before  him  on  his  office  desk.  His  long,  lean  face  was 
gray  and  haggard,  his  eyes  were  bloodshot,  and  the  nerv 
ously  moving  fingers  of  his  clasped  hands  were  trembling. 
His  features  plainly  were  indicative  of  bewilderment  and 
despair. 

During  the  three  years  he  had  been  in  office  it  had  been 
Horsford's  wont  to  enter  upon  the  performance  of  each 
day's  duties  a  Little  after  nine  o'clock.  He  was  a  method 
ical  man  and  was  noted  for  the  strictness  with  which  he 
required  his  subordinates  to  conform  with  the  exactions 
of  office  routine.  To-day,  however,  he  did  not  appear  at 
the  department  until  after  eleven  o'clock.  He  then 
directed  attendants  to  inform  visitors  that  he  was  giving 
his  attention  to  a  matter  of  great  importance  and  must 
not  be  disturbed. 

For  nearly  an  hour  the  privacy  of  the  Assistant  Sec 
retary  was  maintained.  Several  attaches  of  the  depart 
ment  had  called  to  see  him,  but  were  turned  away.  Then 
there  appeared  an  elderly,  well-groomed  man  who  intro 
duced  himself  in  the  outer  office  as  "Mr.  Blossom."  He 
announced  that  he  called  in  response  to  a  summons  from 

273 


274  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

the  Assistant  Secretary.  His  name  was  taken  to  Hors- 
ford,  who  directed  that  he  be  admitted  at  once. 

Blossom  remained  for  half  an  hour.  When  he  left, 
Horsford  sent  out  for  an  omelet  and  pot  of  coffee. 
Shortly  afterward  matters  of  great  urgency  compelled 
him  to  see  two  officials  of  the  department.  These  visitors 
soon  left  him,  however.  Once  more  alone,  he  resumed  his 
nervous  pacing  of  the  floor;  then  seated  himself  at  his 
desk.  He  was  thus  seated  when  the  door  communicating 
with  the  outer  office  was  opened  quietly  and  his  private 
secretary  appeared. 

"I'm  sorry  to  disturb  you  again,  Mr.  Horsford,  but 
Captain  Rennison  is  here,"  the  private  secetary  explained. 
"I  told  him  you  were  engaged,  but  he  said  he  called  on 
a  matter  that  would  not  admit  of  delay." 

Horsford  started  perceptibly  as  the  name  of  the  Army 
officer  was  mentioned.  He  cleared  his  throat,  unclasped 
his  hands  and  gripped  the  arms  of  his  chair. 

"Send  him  in,"  he  directed,  shortly,  in  a  voice  that 
quavered  a  little. 

The  private  secretary,  retiring,  closed  the  door.  A 
few  moments  later  Rennison  opened  it  and  stepped  into 
the  room.  He  found  Horsford  busying  himself  with  the 
mail  that  lay  before  him  on  his  desk. 

"How  are  you,  Rennison?"  the  Assistant  Secretary 
asked  without  looking  up. 

Rennison  did  not  reply.  His  face,  too,  looked  some 
what  haggard  as  he  removed  his  hat,  tossed  it  on  a  leather 
couch,  mopped  his  forehead  with  a  handkerchief  and 
strode  slowly  to  a  chair  beside  Horsford's  desk.  There 
was  a  suggestiveness  of  hesitation  in  his  manner  as  he 
sat  down. 


THE  MIDDLEMAN  275 

With  trembling  fingers  the  Assistant  Secretary  drew  a 
letter  from  its  envelope. 

"You've  been  expecting  me,  I  suppose,"  Rennison  began. 

"Why?"  Horsford  asked  evasively.  "You  gave  me  no 
intimation  that  I  should  look  for  you  to-day." 

"Have  others  not  done  so?" 

"To  what  others  do  you  refer?" 

"Those  you  saw  in  Baltimore — after  I  left  you,  last 
night." 

Again  Horsford  cleared  his  throat. 

"You,  too,  were  in  Baltimore,  I  believe,"  he  said. 

"Yes." 

Sinking  back  in  his  chair,  the  Assistant  Secretary  now, 
for  the  first  time,  faced  his  visitor — half  fearfully,  half 
defiantly. 

"In  following  me  to  that  city  was  it  your  purpose  to 
give  to  me  the  sheets  of  paper  you  took  from  your  friend 
Storrow's  cane — the  sheets  you  withheld  when  you  gave 
me  the  bogus  papers  last  night?" 

"Well,  when  I  followed  you  to  Baltimore  I  had  not 
fully  determined  what  course  I  would  take  concerning 
the  papers." 

"You  have  reached  a  determination  now?" 

"I  have  nearly  reached  one.  Certain  circumstances 
which  remain  to  be  considered  must  shape  my  decision." 

"You  have  come  to  discuss  those  circumstances  with 
me?" 

"Not  exactly  that,  I  should  say.  Your  office  will  be  to 
put  me  in  touch  with  persons  who  will  be  able  to  give  to 
me  definite  answers  to  certain  propositions  which  I  am 
prepared  to  make." 

"I  see,"  Horsford  answered,  nodding. 


276  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"I  am  glad  the  situation  is  becoming  clearer  to  you," 
Rennison  drawled.  "There  is  still,  however — 

Horsford  raised  a  trembling,  protesting  hand. 

"It  is  not  clear  to  me,  Rennison,"  he  said.  "Before  we 
proceed  further,  I  would  be  obliged  if  you  would  throw 
a  little  more  light  on  our  relative  positions.  Yesterday, 
pursuing  a  quest  on  which  you  had  been  sent  by  me,  you 
took  from  Hayden  Storrow's  cane  certain  papers  which 
it  was  essential  that  I,  as  the  representative  of  the  Navy 
Department  in  this  matter,  should  have  with  the  least 
possible  delay.  Instead  of  giving  those  papers  to  me, 
you  retained  them  and  gave  to  me  some  bogus  sheets  that 
were  not  even  partial  copies  of  the  originals.  What  was 
your  purpose  in  deceiving  me?'* 

"I  had  found  reason  to  suspect  that  you  were  acting 
in  the  capacity  of  a  representative  of  Seafalcon  and  his 
Brotherhood.  Your  visit  to  Baltimore  confirmed  that 
suspicion.  Knowing  I  have  proof  of  the  fact  that  you 
have  been  disloyal  to  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
and  that  the  papers  you  so  earnestly  desire  are  in  my 
possession,  it  should  be  clear  to  you  that  before  this  you 
would  have  gone  the  way  of  Reifsnyder  if  some  powerful 
motive  had  not  restrained  me  from  meting  out  to  you  such 
punishment  as  you  have  deserved.  The  restraining 
motive  arises  from  a  grievance  I  have  against  the  Amer 
ican  Government.  In  leaving  the  service  of  that  Govern 
ment,  I  find  it  desirable  to  make  peace  with  certain  enemies 
I  have  made,  as  a  result  of  the  nature  of  my  activities  in 
the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence.  It  is  essential  that 
I  have  such  protection  as  may  be  afforded  by  Seafalcon 
and  his  Brotherhood." 

"He  is  all-powerful,"  Horsford  muttered. 

"He  will  not  be  so  until  he  obtains  possession  of  the 


THE  MIDDLEMAN  ,       277 

secret  which  I  took  from  Storrow's  cane  yesterday.  That 
secret  carries  with  it  the  balance  of  power.'* 

"He  is  well  aware  of  that,"  Horsford  replied. 

"For  certain  considerations  I  will  place  it  in  his  pos 
session.  The  conditions  to  which  he  must  agree  are  these: 
First:  He  must  pay  to  Miriam  Warburton  the  sum  of 
two  hundred  thousand  dollars ;  second,  he  must  give  to 
Miss  Warburton  full  liberty  of  movement  and  the  assur 
ance  that  never  again  will  she  be  required  by  the  Brother 
hood  to  perform  any  act  as  one  of  its  agents ;  third,  fol 
lowing  its  receipt  of  the  secret  from  me,  the  Brotherhood 
will  use  every  effort  to  assure  me  adequate  protection 
against  my  enemies,  it  being  understood  that  I  live  in 
retirement  at  my  country  place  in  Connecticut.'* 

"That  is  all?"  Horsford  asked,  as  Rennison  paused. 

"That  is  all,"  the  officer  repeated.  "You  see  that, 
except  protection,  I  am  asking  nothing  for  myself.  Due 
consideration  must  be  given,  however,  to  my  suggestion 
concerning  the  manner  in  which  the  papers  are  to  pass 
from  me  to  Seafalcon." 

"You  would  give  them  to  Seafalcon  yourself?'* 

"Yes." 

Horsford,  who  now  appeared  to  have  recovered  much 
of  his  composure,  stroked  his  chin  thoughtfully. 

"That  might  be  difficult,  Captain,"  he  muttered. 

"The  method  I  am  suggesting  is  one  upon  which  I  shall 
insist,"  Rennison  retorted  doggedly.  "I  know  Seafalcon 
is  in  or  near  Baltimore.  Before  I  surrender  the  papers 
I  must  have  from  Seafalcon  himself  assurance  that  the 
conditions  I  have  named  will  be  carried  out — to  the  letter. 
My  plan  of  procedure  is  this :  At  six  o'clock  this  evening 
I  will  get  into  telephone  communication  with  you  at  your 
house.  You  then  will  tell  me  whether  or  not  my  conditions 


278  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

have  been  accepted.  We  will  make  no  reference  to  de 
tails,  of  course.  When  you  are  satisfied  that  it  is  my 
voice  you  hear  on  the  wire,  you  simply  will  say  'yes,' 
'no,'  or  'reservation.'  Should  you  say  'reservation'  I  will 
understand  that  a  personal  interview  with  me  is  neces 
sary." 

Horsford  nodded. 

"I  understand  you,"  he  said. 

"Should  your  reply  be  'yes,'  I  will  have  no  further  com 
munication  with  you  or  your  friends  until  ten  o'clock 
to-night,  at  which  time  I  will  alight  at  the  Union  Station, 
Baltimore,  from  the  train  which  leaves  Washington  at 
nine.  I  will  pass  quickly  through  the  waiting-room  to  the 
main  entrance.  I  will  wear  this  suit  and  will  carry  a 
yellow  walking-stick,  with  the  curved  handle  held  down 
ward.  At  the  entrance  a  representative  of  your  Chief 
will  step  toward  me  and  say:  'A  taxi  will  not  be  necessary, 
for  a  private  car  is  waiting.'  I  then  will  accompany  him 
to  the  waiting  car,  after  which  I  will  be  entirely  at  the 
service  of  the  Brotherhood." 

"You  will  have  the  papers  with  you?"  Horsford  asked. 

"No.  As  soon  as  possible,  after  I  enter  the  car,  I 
must  be  taken  to  your  Chief.  When  he,  in  the  presence 
of  Miss  Warburton,  gives  to  me  the  assurances  I  require, 
I  will  indicate  a  place  where  the  papers  may  be  found  and 
taken  to  your  Chief  in  a  few  minutes." 

Horsford  shook  his  head  dubiously. 

"You  are  asking  him  to  take  what  may  be  described  as 
a  serious  chance  of  capture,  Captain,"  the  Assistant  Sec 
retary  said  hesitatingly.  "If  you  plan  to  double-cross 
him-  -" 

"I  will  be  alone,  unarmed  and  completely  in  his  power. 


THE  MIDDLEMAN  279 

In  such  circumstances  any  attempt  at  duplicity  would  be 
suicidal,  of  course." 

"It  is  well  that  you  are  taking  this  view  of  it,  Captain," 
Horsford  interpolated  grimly. 

"There  is  one  thing  more,"  Rennison  went  on.  "You 
are  the  only  Government  official  who  has  learned  that  the 
sheets  I  gave  to  you  last  night  were  bogus — that  only  in 
form  do  they  resemble  the  originals  that  were  taken  from 
the  body  of  Channing.  Though  Towndrow  went  with  me, 
trailing  you,  to  Baltimore,  he  was  not  informed  con 
cerning  all  the  circumstances.  You  will  infer,  therefore, 
that  the  nature  of  the  substitution  of  the  false  sheets  for 
the  real  ones  is  known  only  to  you,  to  your  confidants, 
and  to  me." 

Horsford's  start  and  the  furtive,  wondering  glance  he 
directed  toward  the  speaker  did  not  escape  the  observation 
of  Rennison.  As  the  gaze  of  the  Assistant  Secretary 
again  fell  to  his  desk  his  hands  and  knees  were  shaking. 

"Um !  Ah !"  he  gasped,  weakly. 

There  was  a  pause,  then  Rennison  said: 

"Now,  Mr.  Horsford,  in  order  that  there  may  be  no 
misunderstanding  concerning  the  conditions  I  have  im 
posed  and  the  plan  of  procedure  I  have  outlined,  I  will 
ask  you  to  repeat  them." 

Slowly,  mechanically  and  in  a  quiet  monotone,  Horsford 
complied  with  the  request.  He  omitted  nothing. 

Rennison,  satisfied,  nodded  and  rose. 

"Very  good,  Mr.  Horsford,"  he  said.  "Our  under 
standing  is  complete.  In  the  circumstances,  I  do  not  see 
that  there  is  any  more  to  say.  I  will  communicate  with 
you,  in  the  manner  I  have  suggested,  at  six  o'clock.  Mean 
time " 


280  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Wait,  Rennison,"  Horsford  directed,  speaking  ab 
stractedly.  "Sit  down." 

Again  the  Army  man  reseated  himself. 

With  his  elbows  resting  on  the  arms  of  his  chair  and 
the  fingers  of  his  clasped  hands  moving  nervously,  Hors 
ford,  leaning  forward,  gazed  at  the  pile  of  letters  on  his 
desk.  He  cleared  his  throat. 

"Captain,"  he  began,  "you  have  said  that,  having  dis 
covered  I  was  in  league  with  the  Brotherhood,  a  powerful 
motive  impelled  you  to  refrain  from  meting  out  to  me  the 
punishment  I  deserved.  You  added  that  the  motive  was 
incident  to  some  grievance  against  the  American  Govern 
ment.  Would  I  be  asking  too  much  if  I  were  to  ask  you 
to  make  this  a  little  more  clear  to  me?" 

Rennison  hesitated. 

"I  am  asking  this  because  I  believe  a  knowledge  of  such 
a  grievance  would  strengthen  the  confidence  of  my  friends 
in  your  good  faith  toward  them — and  their  cause,"  the 
Assistant  Secretary  added. 

"I  will  tell  you,  then,"  Rennison  answered,  bitterly. 
"In  the  Army  of  the  United  States  I  have  the  rank  of  an 
officer.  I  attained  that  rank  by  dint  of  hard  study,  hard 
work  and  faithful  service.  Despite  these  facts  and  re 
peated  and  vigorous  protests,  I  have  been  compelled  to 
serve  as  a  professional  spy.  This  service,  alwa}Ts  onerous 
to  me,  has  been  aggravated  by  the  growing  number  of  my 
enemies — distinctly  dangerous  enemies.  I  have  wanted  to 
marry  and  settle  down  to  an  honorable  career  in  the  Army. 
The  War  Department  has  contemptuously  ignored  each 
request  I  have  made  for  regular  military  service.  And 
now,  Mr.  Horsford,  I  am  tired — dog-tired  of  it  all.  I'm 
through.  As  an  Army  spy  I'm  done." 

"This  Miss — Miss  Warburton  is  very  dear  to  you?" 


THE  MIDDLEMAN  281 

"Dearer  than  life  itself.  And  your  Brotherhood  has 
her  in  its  grip." 

"I  see,"  Horsford  murmured  softly.  The  fingers  of 
one  of  his  hands,  no  longer  trembling,  were  fumbling  at 
his  chin.  "They've  got  your  nerve,  lad — as  they  got 
mine.  Is  it  not  so?" 

Rennison  rose  abruptly  and  crossed  the  room  to  the 
leather  sofa  on  which  he  had  tossed  his  hat.  He  was 
bending  over  this  when  he  felt  a  hand  fall  on  one  of  his 
shoulders. 

"The  world  is  mad — mad — mad !"  Horsford  exclaimed 
huskily. 

Rennison,  straightening,  smoothed  the  hatband. 

"Yes,"   he   assented.      "It   is   mad." 

"And  yet — yet — Rennison,  I  had  expected  something 
rather  better  of  you,"  Horsford  went  on,  gently  gripping 
one  of  the  sleeves  of  the  Army  officer  and  looking  toward 
one  of  the  windows. 

"Indeed!"  Rennison  murmured. 

"I  am  a  man  well  along  in  years  and  with  no  ability  to 
perform  great  tasks,"  Horsford  continued.  "Political 
influence,  rather  than  merit,  was  responsible  for  my  ap 
pointment  to  the  office  I  now  hold  under  the  Government. 
I  achieved  this  preferment  in  the  American  way.  The 
political  interests  which  effected  my  appointment  wanted 
a  weak  man  in  this  position,  and  their  choice  fell  on  me. 
Following  my  appointment,  several  weeks  passed  before  I 
realized  this.  The  realization  first  humiliated,  then  ap 
palled  me.  When  I  found  I  was  nothing  more  than  a  mere 
tool  in  the  hands  of  sinister  men,  I  tried  to  get  out.  It 
was  too  late.  It  was  too  late,  Rennison.  Do  you  under 
stand  me?" 

His  voice  sank  almost  to  a  whisper  and  the  hand  which 


282  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

had  been  grasping  Rennison's  sleeve  fell  to  his  side.  The 
Army  man  was  silent. 

"The  knowledge  that  I  was  to  be  required  to  play  a 
traitorous  role  came  to  me  slowly,"  the  Assistant  Secre 
tary  went  on.  "But,  as  it  came,  the  grip  of  the  Brother 
hood  grew  tighter.  Subserviency  to  its  will  meant  life  to 
me.  Death  would  be  the  penalty  of  my  defiance.  In  a 
hundred  ways  I  was  made  to  feel  the  power  of  the  hands 
that  moved  me  as  a  pawn  and  the  folly  of  any  attempt 
at  resistance." 

The  eyes  into  which  the  speaker  was  looking  for  sym 
pathy  or  pity  were  indicative  only  of  cold  abstraction. 
In  shaking  accents  Horsford  continued: 

"Like  a  European  captive  of  a  savage  African  tribe, 
and  forced  to  do  the  bidding  of  a  merciless  chief,  I  still 
prayed  that  disaster  might  come  to  him — disaster  that 
might  result  in  my  release.  I  felt  that,  sooner  or  later, 
there  must  arise  from  among  my  countrymen  some  David 
who  would  succeed  in  striking  down  this  modern  Goliath — 
Seafalcon.  Who  he  might  be  I  did  not  suspect.  But  I 
knew  he  must  be  brave  and  shrewd — with  a  will  of  iron. 
It  was  not  until  I  was  waiting  for  you  to-day  that  the 
idea  came  to  me  that  he  must  possess  the  qualities  which 
have  been  attributed  to  you." 

"So  I  have  disappointed  you,  eh?"  Rennison  asked  with 
a  note  of  indifference  in  his  voice. 

Still  looking  toward  the  window,  Horsford  answered : 

"No,  Rennison.  Greater  than  your  love  of  ease, 
greater  than  your  love  of  woman,  greater  than  your  love 
of  life,  is  your  love  of  country  and  your  sense  of  honor. 
There  is  only  one  coward  in  this  room." 

"Only  one  coward,  perhaps,"  Rennison  said  coldly. 
"But  you  will  not  forget  that  in  this  room  is  a  man  who 


THE  MIDDLEMAN  283 

has  a  serious  grievance  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  and  who  is  vitally  interested  in  assuring  the 
future  happiness  of  Miriam  Warburton." 

"I  shall  remember  it,"  Horsford  replied. 

"It  is  essential,  therefore,  that  the  program  I  have 
indicated  to  you  shall  be  carried  out — to  the  letter,"  the 
Army  officer  went  on. 

"All  will  be  done  in  the  manner  you  have  directed, 
Captain." 

"Thank  you,"  Rennison  said.  "Meantime,  I  would 
suggest  that  you  engage  in  as  little  speculation  as 
possible." 

"I  will  engage  in  none,"  the  Assistant  Secretary  replied. 
"As  I  have  told  you,  I  am  merely  a  pawn  in  the  game — • 
a  game  which,  I  pray  God,  may  be  ended  to-morrow. 
Whatever  the  outcome  of  the  game  may  be,  I  will  be  tossed 
to  my  pawn's  box — and  merciful  oblivion.  And  so  good 
luck  to  you,  my  boy — even  though  my  lips,  like  Reif- 
snyder's,  may  be  silenced  in  what  Towndrow  has  called 
'the  Rennison  way.* ' 

Rennison,  having  bowed  curtly,  had  started  toward  the 
door  when  the  words,  "the  Rennison  way,"  came  to  him 
like  the  sting  of  a  lash.  A  sudden  pallor  overspread  his 
face  and  his  lips  tightened.  After  flashing  a  glance  to 
ward  the  speaker,  he  turned  again  to  go. 

"Stop !"  Horsford  called  tremulously.  "Shake  hands, 
Rennison.  You  know  that,  whatever  may  be  the  outcome 
of  this,  you  and  I  never  will  meet  again." 

The  Army  man  halted,  turned  slowly,  then  moved  to 
where  Horsford,  now  standing  upright  beside  his  desk, 
was  holding  out  a  hand.  Their  hands  met ;  then  Rennison 
stepped  briskly  to  the  door.  He  bowed  abruptly  as  he 
went  out. 


284  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

For  several  moments  Horsford  stared  abstractedly  at 
the  door  which  the  departing  visitor  had  closed  behind 
him.  Gaunt,  yellow-visaged,  and  with  bloodshot  eyes,  he 
had  the  aspect  of  an  aged,  lone  wolf,  listening  to  the  bay 
ing  of  distant  hounds.  Then,  after  thrusting  back  his 
swivel-chair,  he  slowly  sank  to  his  knees  before  his  letter- 
cluttered  desk,  and  liid  his  face  in  his  hands. 


CHAPTER  XXXV. 

THE  "ZERO  HOUR." 

THE  New  York  Express,  which  left  Washington  at  nine 
o'clock,  slowed  down  in  the  Union  Station,  Baltimore,  at 
five  minutes  after  ten,  being  five  minutes  late.  Nearly  a 
score  of  passengers  alighted,  among  them  being  Captain 
George  Rennison,  U.  S.  A.  Apparently  looking  neither 
to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  he  stepped  briskly  to  the 
waiting-room  and  continued  on  to  the  main  entrance  to 
the  station.  The  brim  of  his  hat  was  drawn  well  down 
toward  his  eyes.  He  carried  a  yellow  cane,  with  the  fer 
rule  held  upward.  A  frown  darkened  his  face,  which  wore 
a  preoccupied  expression. 

Scarcely  had  the  army  officer  passed  out  of  the  door 
way  at  the  front  of  the  station  when  his  gaze  was  met  and 
held  by  a  sturdily  built,  well-groomed  man,  who,  in  the 
act  of  lighting  a  cigarette,  had  passed  out  of  the  waiting- 
room  a  few  moments  before.  The  man,  a  stranger  to 
Rennison,  was  about  six  feet  in  height,  with  long,  well- 
moulded,  clean-shaven  features,  black  hair  and  gray  eyes, 
and  somewhere  between  thirty  and  thirty-five  years  of  age. 
His  suit  and  shoes  were  black.  He  wore  a  pale  blue  silk 
shirt,  white  collar  and  black  tie  and  a  straw  hat  with  a 
black  band.  His  glance  and  carriage  were  indicative  of 
alertness  of  thought  and  action. 

Rennison  halted  and,  shifting  his  gaze  to  the  roadway, 
drew  a  cigar  case  from  one  of  his  pockets.  His  teeth  just 

285 


286  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

had  closed  on  a  cigar  when  the  stranger,  approaching, 
said,  quietly : 

"A  taxi  will  not  be  necessary,  sir.  A  private  car  is 
waiting." 

The  words  thus  spoken  constituted  the  form  of  identi 
fication  that  had  been  indicated  by  Rennison  to  Horsford. 
Accordingly  the  Army  man  nodded. 

"At  your  service,  sir,"  he  replied. 

Slipping  a  hand  under  one  of  Rennison's  arms,  the 
stranger  led  him  to  where  a  touring  car  was  standing  at 
the  further  side  of  the  station's  semicircular  roadway. 
As  they  approached  this,  Rennison  noted  that  it  had  three 
cars  behind  it  and  two  in  front  of  it.  It  was  a  machine 
of  a  common  type,  but  of  a  model  that  was  three  years 
old.  Moreover,  it  was  a  little  the  worse  for  wear.  Here 
and  there,  visible  in  the  electric  light  which  fell  from  an 
arc  lamp  above,  patches  of  sun-blistered  paint  were  to  be 
seen.  The  low  leather  top  had  an  appearance  of  rusti- 
ness.  A  broad-featured  man  of  middle  age,  clad  in  a 
seedy  chauffeur's  uniform,  sat  at  the  steering  wheel.  The 
tonneau  was  unoccupied. 

"Step  right  in,  Captain,"  said  Rennison's  companion 
as  he  threw  open  the  rear  door.  Chuckling  a  little,  he 
added :  "And,  incidentally,  I  might  mention  that  my  name 
is  Casey." 

"Glad  to  meet  you,  Casey,"  Rennison  replied  perfunc 
torily  as  he  sank  back  on  the  seat. 

The  door  slammed  and  Casey  settled  down  beside  him. 

"Right?"  queried  the  chauffeur  gruffly,  looking  over  his 
shoulder. 

"All  right,  Owen,"  Casey  answered  cheerfully.  "Let 
her  go." 

In  another  moment  the  machine  was  in  motion.    After 


THE  "ZERO  HOUR"  287 

describing  a  semicircle,  it  was  headed  westward  toward 
Charles  Street.  Along  this  handsome,  well-lighted  thor 
oughfare  it  moved  quickly  to  Eager  Street,  into  which  it 
turned  eastward. 

"Your  train  was  a  little  late,  Captain,"  Casey  remarked 
easily.  Seated  on  Rennison's  right,  he  leaned  forward 
and,  with  his  hands  on  his  knees,  peered  searchingly  at 
the  sidewalks  to  right  and  left  of  the  speeding  vehicle. 

"About  five  minutes,"  Rennison  replied.  "We  were  a 
little  slow  in  getting  through  the  Washington  yards." 

Half  rising,  Casey  looked  out  of  the  window  at  the 
rear  of  the  cover. 

"You  have  a  trailer?"  the  officer  asked. 

"Yes,"  Casey  answered.  He  paused,  then,  as  he  re 
seated  himself,  he  added :  "Yes,  a  trailer  and  a  leader.  If 
anyone  tries  to  follow  us,  we'll  soon  know  it.  Ahead  of  us 
and  behind  us  we  have  some  of  the  sharpest  eyed  and 
nerviest  gunmen  in  the  country.  But  these  are  not  all 
who  are  keeping  us  under  watchful  care.  Between  this 
point  and  our  destination  two  hundred  scouts  are  sta 
tioned  along  our  course.  Scarcely  are  we  out  of  sight 
of  one  when  we  come  into  view  of  another.  At  every 
quarter  mile  our  progress  is  reported  to  headquarters." 

"That's  good,"  Rennison  said  approvingly.  "With 
such  precautions  there  should  be  no  danger  of  a  miscar 
riage  of  your  plans." 

As  the  car  approached  Greenmount  Avenue,  Casey 
again  leaned  forward. 

"Signal  to  our  pilot,  Owen,"  he  directed,  addressing 
the  chauffeur. 

The  chauffeur  nodded,  slackened  the  speed  of  the  car, 
then  laid  a  hand  on  the  automobile  horn,  from  which  now 
issued  two  short  toots,  two  long  ones  and  a  short.  A 


288       THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

machine  which  had  been  standing  in  Greenmount  Avenue 
responded  with  two  short  blasts  and  at  once  got  under 
way,  headed  southward.  Casey's  car,  swinging  around 
the  corner,  moved  slowly  after  it. 

"Shall  we  have  a  long  run?"  Rennison  queried  care 
lessly,  flicking  the  ash  from  his  cigar. 

"No — not  long,"  replied  Casey.  "We  ought 

Confound  the  fool!  What  does  he  mean  by — 

A  roadster,  containing  two  men,  just  had  turned  into 
Greenmount  Avenue  from  Madison  Street.  For  several 
yards  it  ran  beside  Casey's  car,  then  it  was  seen  to  bear 
to  the  left.  In  order  to  avoid  a  collision,  Casey's  chauf 
feur  slowed  down  and  turned  to  the  left.  Owen's  effort 
was  vain,  however.  The  right  corner  of  the  touring  car's 
collision  guard  struck  the  left  forward  wheel  of  the 
roadster. 

The  shock  resulting  from  the  impact  was  comparatively 
light.  Both  machines  stopped  instantly.  Swearing  vio 
lently,  the  driver  of  the  roadster  leaped  to  the  ground  and 
advanced  threateningly  toward  Owen. 

Two  other  cars  stopped  and  from  one  alighted  three 
men.  Four  got  out  of  the  other.  These  were  moving 
curiously  about  the  interlocked  touring  car  and  roadster 
when,  from  different  directions,  two  men  in  policemen's 
uniforms  appeared. 

Casey,  rising,  was  about  to  step  out  of  the  car  when 
Rennison  seized  him  by  one  of  his  sleeves  and  drew  him 
back. 

"Stop !"  the  Army  officer  directed  sharply,  in  a  low 
voice.  "There  is  no  reason  that  you  and  I  should  mix 
up  in  this  thing.  It's  a  matter  for  the  drivers  and  the 
cops.  Let  them  settle  it  among  themselves.  The  less 


THE  "ZERO  HOUR"  289 

that  is  seen  of  us  the  better.  Better  warn  your  man  to 
say  as  little  as  possible.  There  appears  to  be  no  serious 
damage  done.  Stay  where  you  are.  Sit  down." 

Plainly  impressed  by  the  soundness  of  Rennison's  ad 
vice,  Casey  dropped  back  on  the  seat.  Owen  manifestly 
was  in  no  need  of  the  advice  suggested  by  the  Army  man. 
To  the  abuse  of  the  roadster's  driver  he  made  no  reply. 
When  he  was  questioned  by  the  two  uniformed  men,  how 
ever,  he  explained  the  circumstances  clearly. 

Owen's  assertions  were  promptly  corroborated  by  the 
men  who  had  alighted  from  the  two  other  cars. 

"Take  the  names  of  these  witnesses,  Hank,"  directed 
one  of  the  policemen,  addressing  his  companion.  "I'll 
take  care  of  the  license  numbers  and  men  in  these 
machines." 

The  policeman  thus  addressed  at  once  proceeded  to 
round  up  the  occupants  of  the  neutral  vehicles. 

"Come,  now ;  get  over  to  the  lamp  on  the  sidewalk,"  he 
commanded  roughly.  "Come  along.  I  want  all  of  you. 
Get  a  move.  We  ain't  got  all  night." 

The  policeman  who  remained  behind  passed  around  each 
of  the  interlocked  machines,  inspecting  them  carefully 
and  jotting  down  their  license  numbers.  In  accordance 
with  his  directions  each  machine  was  backed  away  from 
the  other.  It  was  found  that  no  damage  whatever  had 
been  sustained  by  the  touring  car.  The  roadster's  injury 
consisted  of  a  bent  mudguard  over  the  forward  left  wheel. 

Apparently  mollified  by  the  discovery  that  the  injury 
sustained  by  his  machine  was  not  more  serious,  the  driver 
of  the  roadster  became  affable,  even  going  so  far  as  to 
assure  the  policeman  that  he  was  content  to  let  the  matter 
drop  where  it  was. 


290  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Both  of  us  were  a  bit  to  blame,  I  guess,"  he  said,  with 
an  assumption  of  resignation.  "There's  no  use  making 
a  court  case  of  it." 

Owen  nodded. 

"That's  agreeable  to  me,"  he  muttered. 

"Well,  get  OH  with  you,  then,"  said  the  policeman  as 
he  stepped  back. 

And  once  more  the  touring  car  started  on  its  way. 

"One  of  those  machines  that  stopped  was  our  trailer, 
I  suppose,"  Rennison  hazarded  as  the  car  moved  on. 

"Yes,"  Casey  answered  moodily.  "But  I  can't  get  it 
out  of  my  head,  Captain,  that  there's  something  queer  in 
this  thing.  There  is  no  question  in  my  mind  that  that 
roadster  ran  into  us  deliberately." 

"I  must  confess  it  looks  a  bit  odd  to  me,"  Rennison 
said,  after  a  pause.  "It  seems  fairly  clear,  though,  that 
no  one  involved  in  the  affair  had  any  interest  in  you  or 
me." 

"It  has  delayed  us  a  little,  but  that  will  not  matter 
much — unless  the  delay  is  part  of  some  design,"  Casey 
mutered.  "It  may  be  we  were  held  up  in  order  that 
others  might  have  an  opportunity  to  come  up  with  us." 

"Our  trailer  will  get  right  back  on  the  job,  of  course," 
said  Rennison. 

"Oh,  yes.  The  chaps  on  it  know  what  our  route  is 
to  be.  They  will  keep  after  us.  If  we  are  followed  by 
any  other  car,  a  warning  will  be  flashed  on  ahead  through 
our  scout  line  and  will  be  communicated  to  us." 

The  car  now  came  abreast  of  another  touring  car  that 
had  been  moving  slowly  ahead  of  it.  The  horns  exchanged 
signals. 

"Our  pilot,"  Casey  explained  tersely,  as  the  other 
vehicle  again  sped  on  ahead. 


291 

From  behind  them  came  the  tooting  of  another  horn. 
Owen  responded. 

"That  was  our  trailer,"  Casey  muttered.  "We're  all 
set  for  it  again." 

Bel  Air  Market  was  passed  and  the  car  was  headed 
toward  the  southeast. 

Twice  Rennison  tried  to  lead  his  companion  into  con 
versation,  but  the  efforts  were  unsuccessful.  Casey's 
former  affectation  of  cheerfulness  had  disappeared.  His 
manner  plainly  indicated  that  he  was  ill  at  ease.  From 
time  to  time  horn  signals  were  exchanged  with  pilot  and 
trailer.  These  appeared  to  be  more  or  less  perfunctory, 
however.  Casey  listened  attentively,  but  the  sounds  ap 
peared  neither  to  reassure  nor  alarm  him.  Leaning  for 
ward,  he  peered  alternately  to  right  and  left  or  looked 
out  of  the  window  at  the  rear  of  the  car. 

Patterson  Park  was  left  behind  and  the  car  continued 
in  the  direction  of  Canton.  The  streets  became  darker 
and  badly  paved,  and  so  many  turns  were  made  that  the 
red  tail-light  of  the  pilot  car  often  disappeared. 

At  length,  as  the  car  drew  near  the  Canton  waterfront, 
Rennison  spoke  again. 

"Automobiles  are  more  common  in  this  section,  at  this 
hour  of  the  night,  than  I  would  have  supposed  them  to 
be,"  he  said.  "I've  noted  four  in  the  last  two  or  three 
minutes.  All  were  standing  still." 

"They  hold  friends  of  ours,"  Casey  answered.  "All 
are  of  common  types  and  the  ordinary  observer  would 
find  nothing  about  them  that  might  be  described  as  dis 
tinctive,  but  there  is  something  about  each  that  enables 
an  agent  of  the  Brotherhood  to  identify  it  quickly. 

"There  appears  to  be  many  in  service  to-night." 

"The  rendezvous  for  which  we  are  headed  is  well  pro- 


292  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

tected,"  Casey  replied.  "No  matter  how  bold,  shrewd  or 
numerous  our  enemies  may  be,  they  cannot  intrude  upon 
the  council  before  which  you  and  I  are  about  to  appear." 
He  paused,  then  added  with  unmistakable  significance: 
"Nor  would  it  be  possible  for  any  person,  however  re 
sourceful,  to  escape  from  the  structure  we  are  about  to 
enter.  In  arranging  for  this  meeting  with  you  to-night, 
our  Chief  left  nothing  to  chance." 

"For  my  sake,  as  well  as  his  own,  I  am  glad  that  every 
necessary  precaution  has  been  taken." 

"Have  you  had  reason  to  fear  that  the  Federal  author 
ities  might  learn  anything  of  the  business  we  have  on 
to-night?"  Casey  asked  quickly. 

"No — except — well,  as  you  know,  these  days  and  nights 
are  finding  them  very  much  awake." 

For  two  or  three  minutes  both  were  silent ;  then  Casey 
spoke. 

"I  must  confess  to  you,  Rennison,  that  the  stopping  of 
our  car  in  that  manner  has  me  guessing.  That  fellow  in 
the  roadster  had  some  design  in  bringing  the  machines 
together.  But,  as  you  have  said,  he  appeared  to  have 
no  interest  in  either  you  or  me." 

"There  was  a  five-  or  seven-minute  delay,  of  course," 
Rennison  said,  thoughtfully. 

"Seven  or  ten,  at  least,"  Casey  muttered. 

"What  is  our  trailer  doing?" 

"Falling  back  and  closing  in  on  us,  alternately,  in  order 
to  be  certain  that  no  other  machine  is  following  us.  Its 
horn  signals  have  been  assuring  us  that  all  is  well." 

Scarcely  had  Casey  finished  speaking  when  the  car 
turned  sharply  to  the  right.  With  slackening  speed  it 
passed  through  a  short,  narrow  street  that  appeared  to 
be  little  more  than  an  alley.  Ahead  of  it  loomed  darkly 


THE  "ZERO  HOUR"  293 

the  end  of  a  large  warehouse  or  wharf..  The  air  was 
charged  with  the  blended  odors  of  brine  and  oil. 

"Now  for  it,"  Casey  muttered  in  a  voice  that  was 
expressive  of  both  anxiety  and  warning. 

The  car  passed  quickly  through  a  broad,  high,  open 
doorway  and  onto  a  long,  wide  wooden  floor  on  which  were 
heaped  barrels  and  packing  cases  of  various  sizes. 

"Any  enemy  of  Seafalcon's  who  enters  here  leaves  hope 
behind,"  Casey  said  impressively. 

The  only  answer  elicited  by  this  covert  threat  was  a 
brightening  gleam  at  the  tip  of  Rennison's  cigar. 

As  the  car  slowed  down  its  headlights  were  extinguished. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

FACE    TO    FACE. 

FOR  several  moments  the  darkness  of  the  great  brine- 
and-oil-odored  wharfhouse  was  penetrated  by  only  a  few 
dimly  burning  and  widely  scattered  lights;  then,  a  short 
distance  in  front  of  the  halted  car,  three  electric  flash 
lights  glowed  suddenly,  like  dark  lanterns  in  the  hands 
of  burglars.  These  moved  slowly  in  the  direction  of  the 
machine. 

"We  get  out  here,  Captain,"  said  Casey  quietly,  rising 
and  stepping  from  the  vehicle.  Rennison  followed  him. 
As  he  alighted,  the  beams  of  the  three  flashlights  were 
concentrated  on  his  face.  Behind  them  the  features  and 
figures  of  their  bearers  were  only  faintly  discernible. 

Uncertain  concerning  what  next  was  to  be  expected  of 
him,  the  Army  officer,  manifesting  no  sign  of  curiosity, 
nervousness  or  impatience,  stood  still.  One  of  the  three 
light-bearers  led  Casey  aside  and  exchanged  with  him  a 
few  words  that  failed  to  reach  Rennison's  ears. 

"Come  on,  boys,"  Casey  directed  in  a  low  voice. 

Scarcely  were  the  words  spoken  when  the  rays  of  the 
three  lights  fell  to  the  floor  in  such  a  manner  that  they 
indicated  the  course  along  which  the  Army  man  was  to 
move.  Without  speaking,  and  walking  as  quietly  as  if 
they  were  about  to  enter  a  sickroom,  the  five  men  strode 
slowly  toward  the  further  end  of  the  dark  and  silent 
wharfhouse.  Their  course  tended  toward  the  right  and 

294 


FACE  TO  FACE  295 

brought  them  finally  to  a  door  which  the  rays  of  the  flash 
lights  showed  to  be  set  in  a  wooden  partition. 

At  this  door  Casey,  the  leader  of  the  group,  halted  and 
glanced  over  his  shoulder,  apparently  to  assure  himself 
that  his  four  companions  had  kept  pace  with  him ;  then, 
without  knocking,  he  opened  the  door  and  passed  from 
view.  In  a  few  moments  he  reappeared  and,  with  a  ges 
ture,  directed  the  others  to  enter.  A  light-bearer  laid  a 
hand  on  one  of  Rennison's  arms. 

"You're  first,"  the  stranger  said  gruffly.  "Step  in. 
Keep  right  on— with  Casey.  The  rest  of  us  won't  be 
going  much  further  than  the  door,  I  guess." 

Rennison  nodded  and  passed  through  the  doorway. 
From  that  moment  all  thoughts  of  the  three  men  with  the 
flashlights  were  gone  from  his  mind. 

The  Army  man  now  stood  at  the  lower  end  of  a  room 
about  fifty  feet  long  and  twenty  feet  wide,  low-ceilinged 
and  extending  along  a  side  of  the  wharf-house.  Walls 
and  ceiling  were  constructed  of  unpainted  boards  that  had 
become  splintered  and  brown.  Three  overhead  lights  sent 
feeble  rays  into  the  smoke-charged  atmosphere.  At  the 
further  end  of  the  room  a  fourth  light,  with  a  discolored 
green  shade,  stood  on  a  small,  rudely  constructed  table. 
To  the  left  of  the  table  was  an  open  trap  door  from  which 
protruded  about  three  feet  of  a  ladder. 

These  details  were  quickly  observed  by  Rennison  in  the 
course  of  the  apparently  casual  glance  with  which  he 
swept  the  room.  Scarcely  less  indifferent  was  the  gaze 
he  directed  toward  a  group  of  four  men  who  stood  at  the 
further  side  of  the  table.  One  of  these,  leaning  against 
the  end  wall,  had  a  telephone  receiver  at  one  of  his  ears, 
and  appeared  to  be  unaware  of  the  entrance  of  the  army 
man.  Two  of  the  others  were  unknown  to  Rennison.  The 


296  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

fourth  man  was  quickly  recognized,  however.  He  was 
Forney  Kerfoot,  that  agent  of  the  Brotherhood  who  had 
taken  Miriam  Warburton  from  Washington  to  Baltimore. 

Laying  a  hand  on  one  of  Rennison's  arms,  Casey 
muttered  : 

"We'll  have  to  wait  a  bit,  Captain." 

Glancing  at  the  speaker,  Rennison  saw  that  a  strange 
change  had  come  over  him.  His  face  was  pale  and  wore 
a  puzzled  expression.  His  manner  was  indicative  of  hesi 
tation,  his  eyes  of  newborn  anxiety. 

Looking  again  toward  the  table,  the  Army  man  ob 
served  that  this  change  in  Casey  might  be  regarded  as 
reflecting  the  attitude  of  Kerfoot  and  two  of  his  com 
panions  behind  the  table.  Kerfoot's  features,  too,  were 
pale ;  and,  as  he  looked  fixedly  at  Rennison,  the  distrust 
and  menace  in  his  gaze  were  unmistakable.  The  men 
beside  him,  tense-featured  and  anxious,  darted  swift,  fur 
tive  glances  toward  Rennison,  and  appeared  to  be  listen 
ing  to  what  was  being  said  over  the  telephone  by  the 
fourth  member  of  the  group.  The  man  at  the  telephone, 
however,  did  not  turn  his  face  from  the  instrument. 
When  he  spoke  into  the  transmitter  his  voice  was  so  low 
that  Rennison  was  unable  to  distinguish  his  words. 

For  more  than  two  minutes  Rennison,  avoiding  the 
sullen,  distrustful  and  questioning  glances  of  the  other 
occupants  of  the  room,  stood  stolidly  near  the  door 
through  which  he  had  entered. 

At  length,  with  a  muttered  exclamation,  the  man  at 
the  telephone  returned  to  its  hook  the  receiver  he  had 
been  holding  to  his  ear.  Turning  slowly,  he  confronted 
Rennison. 

Not  for  a  moment,  while  he  stood  waiting,  had  Renni 
son  been  in  doubt  concerning  the  identity  of  the  man  who, 


FACE  TO  FACE  297 

with  averted  face,  had  been  speaking  into  the  telephone. 
The  tall,  broad-shouldered,  long-limbed  figure,  with  the 
curling  black  hair,  a  little  gray  over  the  temples,  had 
been  described  to  him.  And  now,  as  the  stranger  turned, 
thus  revealing  a  pair  of  dark,  flashing  eyes  and  a  well- 
molded  face  which  had  been  disfigured  by  a  deep  scar  on 
the  left  cheek,  the  Army  man  knew  that  the  greatest  crisis 
of  his  adventurous  life  had  been  reached.  He  stood  face 
to  face  with  Seaf alcon ! 

Each,  without  speaking,  regarded  the  other  grimly. 
The  features  of  Rennison  were  inscrutable;  Seafalcon's 
were  faintly  expressive  of  curiosity.  Without  waiting 
for  an  invitation,  the  Army  man  moved  slowly  toward  the 
table. 

Seafalcon's  gaze  was  the  first  to  fall.  Looking  thought 
fully  at  the  table,  he  said,  half-abstractedly : 

"And  so,  Rennison,  we  have  you  here." 

"At  your  service,  sir,"  the  Army  man  replied. 

"At  our  service,  perhaps,  but  not  in  it,  I  should  say," 
Seafalcon  retorted,  speaking  rather  more  sharply  than 
before  and  once  more  fixing  his  gaze  on  the  face  of  his 
visitor. 

"That  remains  to  be  determined,  of  course,"  Rennison 
answered  coldly,  as  he  halted  in  front  of  the  table. 

Sitting  on  a  corner  of  the  table,  Seafalcon  folded  his 
arms  across  his  chest  and  looked  at  Rennison  specula- 
tively.  There  was  a  pause,  then  Rennison  added: 

"The  propositions  I  submitted  through  Mr.  Horsford 
are  before  you." 

Again  the  gaze  of  Seafalcon  fell. 

"True,"  he  said  reflectively.  "Unless  there  has  been 
an  error  in  transmission,  the  proposition  you  have  made 
to  us  is  this :  Subject  to  certain  conditions,  you  will  cause 


298  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

to  be  delivered  to  me  certain  sheets  taken  by  you  yesterday 
from  a  sword  cane  belonging  to  your  friend,  Hayden 
Storrow.  These  sheets,  according  to  the  understanding 
of  both  of  us,  contain  the  plans  and  specifications  of  an 
invention  perfected  by  one  Oliver  Channing,  lately  de 
ceased — an  ingenious  contrivance  designed  to  locate,  with 
extraordinary  accuracy,  the  movements  of  submerged 
submarines,  within  the  radius  of  a  considerable  number 
of  miles." 

"Fifteen  miles,  I  believe,"  explained  Rennison. 

"Ah,  well — fifteen,  then,  if  we  are  to  be  accurate.  That 
is  the  offer  you  have  made  to  us — subject  to  conditions, 
of  course?" 

"Precisely,"  Rennison  replied. 

Seafalcon  nodded,  and  went  on: 

"And  the  conditions  are  these:  The  Brotherhood  is  to 
pay  to  Miss  Miriam  Warburton  the  sum  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars ;  to  absolve  her  and  you  from  all  further 
service  to  the  Brotherhood,  and  to  guarantee  to  you  both 
all  the  protection  it  may  be  able  to  afford  against  all 
persons  whom  you  may  have  reason  to  regard  as  your 
enemies." 

"Those  are  the  conditions,  sir,"  Rennison  assented. 
"It  is  clear  there  has  been  no  error  in  transmission." 

Seafalcon  looked  abstractedly  toward  the  farther  end 
of  the  room,  where  Casey  and  his  three  companions  stood 
together,  gloomily  eyeing  the  group  around  the  table. 
The  silence  was  broken  by  the  ringing  of  the  telephone 
bell.  To  this  summons  Seafalcon  appeared  to  give  no 
heed. 

"Shall  I  answer  it,  Chief?"  Kerfoot  asked. 

Seafalcon  nodded,  but  did  not  speak.  Kerfoot  stepped 
to  the  instrument  and  placed  the  receiver  to  one  of  his 


FACE  TO  FACE  299 

ears.  Though  he  spoke  quietly,  Rennison  heard  his 
words : 

"Yes,"  he  said.  "Philimore  is  speaking.  Yes,  Belfort 
is  here.  Yes — yes — yes.  Wait — a  moment,  Bill.  Better 
tell  all  this  to  Belfort,  himself." 

Turning,  Kerfoot  held  out  the  receiver  to  Seafalcon. 

"It's  Zebra,  Chief,"  he  explained  glumly.  "You'd  bet 
ter  take  him  on." 

He  moved  clumsily  as  Seafalcon  left  the  table  and  took 
the  receiver  from  his  extended  hand.  Avoiding  Rennison, 
his  glance  moved  toward  Casey,  who  was  watching  him 
anxiously.  Then  the  Army  man  heard  Seafalcon  speak 
ing. 

"Yes — yes,  it's  clear  enough,"  he  said. 

For  rather  more  than  a  minute  Seafalcon  listened. 
From  the  receiver  he  held  at  his  ear  came  a  continuous 
clicking  that  was  heard  by  Rennison.  At  length  Sea- 
falcon's  voice  was  heard  again. 

"All  right,  Bill,"  he  said.  "That's  as  far  as  you  can 
get  with  the  thing  to-night.  You're  released.  No  further 
instructions.  We  must  await  developments.  Good 
night." 

Seafalcon  moved  slowly  as  he  returned  the  receiver  to 
its  hook  and  stepped  back  to  the  table.  He  picked  up  and 
lighted  a  cigar  which  had  been  lying  on  an  ash-receiver. 
As  he  puffed  at  the  cigar  he  seated  himself  again  on  the 
table. 

"We  were  speaking  of  the  conditions  named  in  your 
offer,  Rennison,"  he  said.  "You  are  prepared  now,  I 
suppose,  to  exact  their  fulfillment?" 

"Yes,"  the  Army  man  answered  shortly. 

"Well,  we  will  take  them  in  order,  then,"  Seafalcon 
went  on.  "The  first,  I  believe,  is  the  production  of  Miss 


300 

Warburton;  second,  the  payment  to  her  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars ;  third,  assurance  from  me  that  neither 
you  nor  Miss  Warburton  shall  be  required  to  perform  any 
further  personal  service  in  behalf  of  the  Brotherhood,  and 
that,  in  the  future,  both  of  you  will  be  under  our  pro 
tection." 

Rennison  nodded  assent.  Turning  to  Kerfoot,  Sea- 
falcon  said: 

"You  may  tell  Miss  Warburton  we  are  ready  to  see  her 
now." 

The  execution  of  this  command  was  devoid  of  ceremony. 
Stepping  to  the  open  trap,  from  which  the  top  of  the 
ladder  protruded,  Kerfoot  called,  gruffly: 

"All  right  below." 


CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

A   FATEFUL   TOAST. 

THROUGH  the  open  trapdoor  came,  faintly,  the  sounds 
of  voices ;  then  all  was  still.  Seafalcon  slipped  from  his 
seat  on  the  edge  of  the  table,  drew  up  a  chair  and  sat 
down.  He  then  took  from  his  coat  a  writing  pad  and  a 
fountain  pen.  Rennison,  watching  him,  observed  that  he 
wrote  with  precision,  and  that  his  handwriting  was  re 
markable  because  of  the  smallness  of  the  letters.  The 
sheets  were  small  and  Seafalcon  used  two  of  them  in  the 
writing  of  about  twenty  lines.  To  these  he  appended  a 
signature. 

After  hurriedly  scanning  what  he  had  written,  the 
Brotherhood  Chief  rose  and  looked  toward  the  further  end 
of  the  room.  By  a  gesture  he  directed  Casey  to  come  to 
the  table. 

"Read  these  instructions,  Casey,  and  tell  me  if  they 
are  clear  to  you,"  he  said. 

Leaning  over  the  table  so  that  the  light  fell  upon  the 
sheets,  Casey  read  carefully.  When  he  was  done,  he 
straightened  slowly  and  looked  at  his  Chief.  Wonder 
dominated  his  questioning  gaze. 

"They  are  clear  to  you?"  Seafalcon  queried. 

"Yes,  sir,"  Casey  answered,  with  manifest  hesitation. 
"They  are  clear." 

"Go,  then,"  Seafalcon  commanded  sharply. 

Accompanied  by  the  three  men  who  had  followed  Ren 
nison  into  the  room,  Casey  went  out. 

301 


302  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

The  ladder-top,  shifting  slightly,  rattled  against  the 
side  of  the  trap.  Kerfoot  leaned  over  it.  At  length, 
stooping  lower,  he  extended  a  hand  through  the  opening. 
Below,  a  woman  spoke — quickly,  but  so  faintly  that  the 
words  were  unintelligible  to  the  ears  of  Rennison.  Then, 
slowly,  the  hands,  head  and  shoulders  of  Miriam  War- 
burton  came  into  view.  Aided  by  Kerfoot,  she  reached 
the  top  of  the  ladder  and  stepped  from  it  to  the  floor. 

The  wandering,  troubled  gaze  of  the  actress  quickly 
marked  Rennison  and  rested  on  his  face.  The  Army  man 
regarded  her  so  coldly  that  the  light  of  glad  recognition 
died  quickly  in  her  eyes.  As  she  turned  from  him,  it 
seemed  to  him  that  she  had  aged  greatly  since  he  had 
seen  her  last.  Her  face  was  sallow,  her  eyes  sunken,  and 
her  hair,  only  partly  concealed  by  her  automobile  veil, 
was  disheveled.  For  the  time  being,  at  least,  she  appeared 
to  have  lost  her  composure.  Whether  this  was  due  to  fear 
or  exhaustion  incident  to  her  ascent  of  the  ladder  those 
who  looked  upon  her  were  unable  to  determine. 

Kerfoot,  apparently  suspecting  that  the  young  woman 
was  about  to  succumb  to  faintness,  retained  his  hold  on 
one  of  her  arms.  Seafalcon,  darting  a  swift,  searching 
glance  at  the  inscrutable  face  of  Rennison,  thrust  toward 
her  a  light,  discolored  wooden  chair. 

"Sit  down,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said  almost  roughly. 

The  actress,  apparently  involuntarily,  again  flashed  a 
questioning  glance  toward  Rennison.  But,  conscious  of 
the  fact  that  Seafalcon  and  his  companions  were  scrutin 
izing  him  closely,  he  was  as  unresponsive  as  before.  Sea- 
falcon  laughed  mirthlessly. 

"One  scarcely  would  describe  you  as  a  demonstrative 
lover,  Captain,"  he  said.  "And  yet  your  merit  as  an 
actor  is  beyond  all  question."  Turning  to  the  young 


A  FATEFUL  TOAST  303 

woman,  he  added:  "You  will  take  comfort,  Miss  War- 
burton,  in  the  thought  that  if  Captain  Rennison  does  not 
welcome  you  more  becomingly  it  is  because  he  designs  to 
save  your  life  should  a  miscarriage  of  his  plans  subject 
him  to  Brotherhood  vengeance.  In  that  event  he  would 
denounce  you  as  a  Brotherhood  spy,  thus  hoping  to  cause 
us  to  believe  that  you  were  faithful  to  us  and  unfaithful 
to  him.  Is  it  not  so,  Captain  ?" 

"There  will  be  no  miscarriage  of  my  plans,"  Rennison 
answered  calmly.  "Now  that  Miss  Warburton  is  here, 
the  payment  to  her  of  the  amount  agreed  upon  is  in  order, 
I  believe." 

"True,"  replied  Seafalcon.  "We  will  now  proceed  to 
conform  with  the  second  of  the  conditions  you  have 
named." 

Thus  speaking,  he  unbuttoned  the  bosom  of  his  flannel 
shirt  and  took  from  an  inside  pocket  a  long,  sealed 
envelope.  As  he  placed  this  on  the  table,  he  added: 

"But,  before  we  open  this  envelope,  let  us  drink — some 
of  this  excellent  Scotch  which  I  took  from  a  British  tramp 
I  sank  last  week.  A  little  stimulant  cannot  fail  to  benefit 
Miss  Warburton,  and  I  am  sure  none  of  us  will  be  the 
worse  for  it.  It  is  fortunate,  too,  that  we  have  six  glasses 
here — one  for  each  of  us.  My  friends  and  I  sampled 
some  of  the  liquor  just  before  you  entered,  Captain.  It 
impressed  us  as  being  rather  fine.  We're  a  little  shy  on 
water,  but — well,  there  seems  to  be  enough  to  go  round." 

He  arranged  the  six  glasses  in  a  line,  then  withdrew 
the  corks  from  both  bottles  on  the  table.  With  a  bottle 
in  each  hand  he  used  them  alternately,  pouring  liquor  into 
the  glasses.  When  this  was  done  he  filled  each  glass 
with  water  from  a  pitcher. 

Rennison  watched  this  proceeding,  then  glanced  toward 


304  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Miss  Warburton,  who  was  gazing  at  him  fixedly.  He 
smiled  faintly  as  he  read  the  warning  in  her  eyes. 

With  a  slight  bow,  Seafalcon  handed  one  of  the  glasses 
to  Miriam  and  moved  another  across  the  table  toward 
Rennison.  He  next  selected  one  for  himself;  then,  with 
a  wave  of  one  of  his  hands,  invited  his  three  companions 
to  help  themselves.  Raising  his  glass,  he  addressed 
Rennison. 

"Captain,  this  night  has  yielded  rather  more  than  its 
share  of  distrust  and  fears,"  he  said.  "Let  us  drink  to 
the  hope  that  all  may  be  ended  by  the  dawn  of  the 
coming  day." 

Rennison  raised  the  glass  to  his  lips,  then  lowered  it 
without  touching  the  liquor.  Miriam,  still  watching  him, 
did  likewise. 

"Stop  !"  commanded  Seafalcon,  whirling  around  to  his 
adherents,  who  stood  at  his  left.  "All  drink  or  none ! 
What  is  your  objection,  Rennison,  to  the  toast  I  have 
proposed?" 

"To  the  toast  there  can  be  no  objection,  of  course," 
Rennison  replied  as  he  returned  the  glass  to  the  table. 

"You  suspect,  then,  the  liquor  is  poisoned?"  the 
Brotherhood  chief  questioned  sternly. 

"Oh,  no,"  the  army  man  answered  smilingly.  "Should 
you  design  to  poison  me,  you  would  wait,  at  least,  until 
the  papers  I  have  undertaken  to  deliver  are  in  your 
hands." 

For  the  first  time  since  Rennison  had  entered  the  room 
the  eyes  of  Seafalcon  flashed  wrathfully.  The  Chief's 
left  hand  still  held  his  glass  as  he  stepped  behind  the  chair 
on  which  Miriam  was  seated.  With  his  right  he  quickly 
drew  an  automatic  pistol  from  one  of  his  pockets  and 
aimed  it  at  the  back  of  the  head  of  the  actress.  There 


A  FATEFUL  TOAST  305 

was  no  mistaking  the  menace  in  the  gaze  he  bent  on 
Rennison. 

"You  will  drink?"  he  asked. 

Realizing  that  even  a  moment's  hesitation  might  result 
in  an  immediate  discharge  of  the  threatening  weapon, 
Rennison  nodded  and  reached  for  the  liquor  he  had 
thrust  aside. 

"Now  drain  your  glasses — all!"  Seafalcon  commanded. 

The  order  was  obeyed.  One  by  one  each  male  drinker 
placed  his  empty  glass  upon  the  table.  That  from  which 
Miriam  drank  was  taken  from  her  and  put  down  by 
Seafalcon,  who  returned  to  his  pocket  the  pistol  with 
which  he  had  threatened  her. 

"And  so  we  come  again  to  the  payment  of  the  price — 
the  two  hundred  thousand  dollars,  which  I  told  you  was 
in  this  envelope,"  Seafalcon  began.  "You  have  required 
that  this  sum " 

As  Seafalcon  stopped,  there  flashed  into  the  mind  of 
Rennison  the  knowledge  that  something  strange  had 
happened  or  was  about  to  happen.  Now,  for  the  first 
time,  the  Brotherhood  Chief,  himself,  appeared  to  be  ill 
at  ease.  He  spoke  hesitatingly,  in  the  manner  of  one 
whose  thoughts  were  not  upon  his  words,  and  his  voice 
was  more  harsh  and  metallic  than  it  had  been  before. 
Though  he  fumbled  with  the  envelope  of  which  he  had 
spoken,  he  made  no  move  to  open  it.  His  face  grew  whiter 
as  his  gaze  rested  on  the  table.  The  interrupted  sentence 
remained  incompleted.  His  attitude  finally  became  that 
of  one  who  listened  and  waited. 

Miriam,  breathing  heavily,  looked  at  Rennison  anx 
iously.  Once  their  glances  met,  and  she  fancied  she  read 
in  his  eyes  that  suspicion  which,  she  did  not  doubt,  he 
saw  in  hers — the  suspicion,  amounting  almost  to  a  con- 


306  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

viction,  that  the  liquor  they  had  been  compelled  to  drink 
had  been  poisoned. 

As  Rennison  turned  from  her,  a  faint  tinge  of  color 
came  to  her  face  and  a  momentary  sense  of  exultation 
dislodged  her  fears  and  fanned  into  sudden  flame  the 
darkening  embers  of  her  woman's  pride.  Despite  the 
coldness  of  his  manner,  there  was  no  mistaking  the  keen 
anxiety  which  lurked  in  the  brief  glance  he  had  turned 
upon  her,  and  it  was  with  almost  hysterical  satisfaction 
that  the  actress  reflected  that  it  was  only  to  save  her 
from  instant  death  that  George  Rennison  drank  what  he 
believed  to  be  poisoned  liquor. 

Again  Seafalcon  raised  his  eyes  and  met  the  gaze  of 
Rennison.  Again  he  spoke — with  manifest  effort,  harshly 
and  metallically. 

"The  sum  you  have  required  of  us,  Captain,  is  a  large 
one,  and  yet — yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that — that ' 

An  exclamation — hoarse  and  incoherent — interrupted 
him;  then,  with  bowed  head  and  hunched  shoulders,  one 
of  the  two  Brotherhood  men  who  had  been  standing  with 
Kerfoot  lurched  forward  and  fell  to  the  floor. 

A  little  cry  issued  from  the  lips  of  Miriam  as  she  rose 
from  her  chair.  A  look  of  dread  was  on  the  face  Rennison 
turned  toward  her.  With  outstretched  hands  she  ran  to 
him,  and,  as  his  left  arm  passed  round  her  waist,  she  hid 
her  face  on  his  shoulder. 

A  second  body  fell  heavily  to  the  floor,  but  Seafalcon, 
standing  beside  the  table  and  still  fumbling  the  envelope, 
continued  to  gaze  at  Rennison. 

"Chief— Chief!" 

The  hollow  voice  now  speaking  was  that  of  Kerfoot, 
who,  leaning  heavily  on  the  back  of  the  chair  Miriam 
had  left  only  a  few  moments  before,  was  regarding  Sea- 


A  FATEFUL  TOAST  307 

falcon  with  an  expression  in  which  agony,  wonder  and 
reproach  were  blended. 

"Chief,  you've — you've — wrong  glasses — you've  done 
for  us  !"  he  faltered. 

The  chair  clattered  beside  him  as  his  big  frame,  falling, 
shook  the  floor. 

Supported  by  Rennison's  arm,  Miriam  Warburton 
raised  her  head.  She  saw  Rennison  and  Seafalcon  were 
looking  at  one  another  steadily.  Both  were  pale,  but 
calm.  The  Army  officer  was  the  first  to  speak. 

"And  so  you  made  a  mistake  in  identifying  the 
poisoned  bottle,  eh?"  he  asked. 

Seafalcon  shook  his  head. 

"No,  Rennison,"  he  said.  "There  has  been  no  mistake 
— in  the  filling  of  the  glasses.  The  game  you  and  I  have 
been  playing  since  the  death  of  Channing  yesterday  is 
finished.  You  win.  I  lose.  But,  before  we  clear  away 
the  pieces,  there  still  is  a  little  more  for  us  to  do — and 
say." 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

A     STARTLING    TASK. 

AGAIN  Seafalcon  picked  up  one  of  the  bottles  and 
poured  some  of  its  contents  into  a  glass.  His  features 
wore  an  expression  of  gloomy  abstraction  as  he  raised 
the  glass  to  his  lips  and  drained  it  of  the  liquor. 

"You've  double-crossed  me,  of  course,  Rennison,"  he 
said,  "but  the  nature  of  your  object,  the  desperate 
chances  you  have  been  taking  and  your  action  in  walking 
in  here  to-night  to  what  you  believed  to  be  certain  death 
makes  your  course  entirely  justifiable.  An  even  better 
view  of  it  may  be  taken  when  I  confess  that  had  you 
delivered  to  me  to-night  the  papers  which  I  sought,  and 
which  were  essential  to  the  continuation  of  my  career, 
neither  you  nor  this  woman  here  would  have  left  this 
place  alive.  But  Miss  Warburton  appears  to  be  suffer 
ing  from  exhaustion.  There  is  no  reason  why  she  should 
be  standing.  Let  her  sit  down." 

Stooping,  the  Brotherhood  Chief  picked  up  and 
placed  for  the  young  woman  the  chair  which  had  been 
overturned  by  the  falling  Kerfoot.  Miriam  sank  on  it 
weakly. 

"There  is  nothing  that  may  be  done — for  them?" 
Rennison  asked,  glancing  at  the  three  still,  outstretched 
figures  on  the  floor. 

"Nothing,"  Seafalcon  answered.  "Already  life  is  ex 
tinct.  For  the  poison  that  was  in  their  liquor  no  anti- 

308 


A  STARTLING  TASK  309 

dote  is  known.  It  was  some  of  this  that  was  in  the 
end  of  that  cigar  into  which  your  friend  Storrow  bit 
while  he  was  waiting  for  you  to  join  him  in  his  limousine, 
outside  the  department  building — a  cigar  he  was  so  ill- 
advised  as  to  accept  from  a  mere  acquaintance  at  the 
Guilford  reception." 

Gripping  one  of  Rennison's  hands  which  rested  on  the 
back  of  the  chair,  Miriam  looked  up  at  him  fearfully. 

"Is — is — Hayden ?"  she  faltered. 

Avoiding  her  glance,  Rennison  nodded. 

With  a  little  gasp,  Miriam  turned  from  him,  and, 
trembling,  hid  her  face  in  her  hands. 

"But  there  is  no  time  now  to  think  or  speak  of  them," 
Seafalcon,  frowning,  said  impatiently.  "As  I  have  said, 
you  win.  Five  minutes  before  you  entered  that  door,  I 
had  indisputable  evidence  of  the  fact  that  I  was  so  com 
pletely  trapped  that  escape  was  impossible.  But,  be 
fore  your  friends " 

He  stopped  abruptly.  Following  the  direction  of  his 
gaze,  Rennison  saw  a  slight  shaking  of  the  ladder  that 
rose  through  the  open  trap.  Speaking  crisply,  Seafalcon 
went  on: 

"Your  friends  are  here.  The  guard  I  had  on  the 
float  below  had  orders  to  leave  as  soon  as  Miss  War- 
burton  came  up.  The  way  is  open  to  me,  as  you  see. 
But,  for  ten  minutes,  perhaps,  you  and  I  must  talk 
without  interruption  from  others.  What  I  have  to  say 
is  rather  more  in  your  interest,  now,  than  my  own. 
Keep  your  men  out  of  here.  I  will  not  be  taken  alive, 
of  course." 

He  had  not  finished  speaking  when  the  head  and  shoul 
ders  of  a  man  wearing  the  uniform  and  insignia  of  a 
commander  in  the  Navy  emerged  through  the  trap. 


310  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Moving  deliberately,  he  completed  the  ascent  of  the 
ladder  and  stepped  to  the  floor.  If  he  carried  a  weapon 
it  was  not  in  view.  Behind  him  the  head  and  shoulders 
of  another  naval  officer  appeared  on  the  ladder. 

The  gaze  of  the  newcomer  moved  from  Rennison  to 
Seafalcon,  thence  to  Miriam  Warburton,  then  back  to 
the  Army  officer.  His  glance  interrogated,  but  he  neither 
spoke  nor  saluted. 

Rennison  was  about  to  speak  when  the  opening  of  the 
door  at  the  other  end  of  the  room  caused  him  to  turn 
quickly.  The  man  who  entered  was  Towndrow. 

Seated  on  the  table  and  fingering  the  pistol  with  which, 
a  few  minutes  before,  he  had  threatened  the  actress, 
Seafalcon  looked  over  one  of  his  shoulders  at  first  one 
intruder  and  then  the  other.  His  glance  was  coldly 
curious. 

The  smile  that  came  to  Rennison's  lips  was  forced. 

"Did  I  not  know,  gentlemen,  that  your  arrival  simul 
taneously  must  be  regarded  as  accidental,  I  would  con 
gratulate  you  on  the  accuracy  with  which  you  have  har 
monized  your  plans,"  he  said.  "For  the  time  being,  how 
ever,  there  is  nothing  that  will  require  your  presence  in 
here.  The  Chief  and  I  are  having  a  little  talk,  and  would 
prefer  not  to  be  disturbed.  He  will  make  no  attempt 
to  escape  nor  to  do  me  injury.  Meantime,  Towndrow,  I 
will  ask  you  to  take  a  position  outside  the  door  and 
see  that  no  one  enters  it.  And,  Catherwood,  if  you  and 
your  men  will  wait  below — somewhere  near  the  foot  of 
the  ladder  until " 

The  naval  officer  saluted,  turned,  and  once  more  set 
foot  on  the  ladder.  As  he  descended  he  glanced  from  one 
to  another  of  the  lifeless  figures  on  the  floor.  But  Town 
drow  hesitated.  With  a  hand  still  grasping  the  knob  of 


A  STARTLING  TASK  311 

the  door,  he,  too,  looked  at  the  prostrate  forms,  and, 
for  several  moments,  the  brooding  eyes  of  Seafalcon,  still 
fingering  the  pistol,  held  his  gaze.  Then  he  turned  to 
Rennison,  and  Miriam,  despite  her  agitation,  wondered 
why  that  strange  expression  of  awe  stole  over  the  face 
of  the  Secret  Service  man — why  Rennison's  features 
grew  suddenly  paler  and  sterner,  as,  frowning,  he  turned 
aside.  Even  had  she  heard  she  would  not  have  under 
stood  the  significance  of  the  words  muttered  by  Town- 
drow,  as,  with  bowed  head,  he  passed  out  of  the  room 
and  closed  the  door  behind  him. 

"The  Rennison  way  again!"  he  faltered.  "The  devil's 
in  it  and  him.  It's  always — always  the  Rennison  way." 

When  the  intruders  were  gone,  Seafalcon,  leaving  the 
table,  dropped  the  pistol  into  one  of  the  outer  pockets 
of  his  coat. 

"I'm  not  going  to  keep  you  long,  Rennison,"  he  began 
abruptly,  "but  before  I  come  to  what  you  probably  will 
designate  hereafter  as  my  confession,  I  am  going  to  ask  a 
few  words  of  explanation  from  you.  You  and  your  Fed 
eral  friends  mixed  in  a  lot  of  new  stuff  in  that  game  you 
played  on  me  to-day.  Some  of  it  is  clear  enough  to  me 
now,  but  some  has  me  guessing.  How  did  you  fellows 
spot  my  submarine  in  the  harbor?  It  entered  at  night, 
and,  lying  on  the  bottom  all  day,  its  machinery  was  still. 
No  airplane  flew  over  it,  and  no  vessel  was  seen  in  its 
vicinity,  and  yet,  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  before 
your  arrival  here,  it  was  destroyed — by  either  a  mine  or 
torpedo.  Naturally,  I'm  a  little  curious.  How  did  you 
manage  it?" 

"With  that  part  of  the  affair  I  had  nothing  to  do," 
Rennison  replied.  "Until  now  I  did  not  know  the  effort 
to  discover  and  destroy  your  boat  had  been  successful. 


312  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

The  credit  for  that  accomplishment  belongs  to  the  Signal 
Service  and  the  dead  Channing." 

"Ah!"  exclaimed  Seafalcon,  half-comprehendingly. 

"As  you  know,  the  aquaphone  was  his  invention.  The 
secret  of  this  device — which  enabled  vessels  to  exchange 
telephone  messages  under  the  water — was  stolen  by  you. 
But  there  was  an  auxiliary  device  that  eluded  you.  This 
was  known  as  the  locater.  By  means  of  this,  communi 
cation  between  your  vessel  and  the  receiving  and  trans 
mitting  drum,  which  you  sank  under  this  pier,  was  identi 
fied  and  the  sources  traced  with  accuracy.  The  scien 
tific  principles  embodied  in  this  combination  were  further 
developed  and  utilized  by  Channing  in  the  device  which 
he  employed  for  the  detection  of  the  position  of  sub 
merged  submarines  and  the  visualization  of  their  move 
ments." 

"Channing  was  a  clever  fellow,"  Seafalcon  said, 
thoughtfully.  "It  is  too  bad  that  he  is  lost  to  us." 

"To  us !"  Rennison  exclaimed,  wonderingly. 

"To  our  Federal  Government — yes,"  Seafalcon  an 
swered,  as  he  lighted  a  fresh  cigar. 

"I'm  afraid  I  do  not  quite  get  your  meaning,  Chief," 
said  Rennison. 

"All  shall  be  made  clear  to  you  presently,  but — well, 
my  curiosity  is  still  unsatisfied.  I  am  going  to  ask  you 
to  indulge  it  a  little  further.  At  the  time  you  arrived 
at  the  railway  station  in  Baltimore  to-night  you  did  not 
know  that  my  boat  and  my  quarters  on  this  pier  had 
been  definitely  located?" 

"No?" 

"Or  that  a  Pennington  Line  freighter,  then  being 
warped  into  its  dock  a  few  hundred  yards  from  here,  had 
its  hold  packed  with  marines?" 


A  STARTLING  TASK  313 

"I  knew  that  measures  had  been  taken  to  effect  the 
secret  arrival  of  several  large  bodies  of  marines  in  the 
harbor — for  emergency  calls." 

"Well,  they  nearly  beat  you  to  it,  for,  with  scores  of 
your  Secret  Service  agents,  they  already  were  throwing 
a  cordon  around  the  land  approaches  to  this  wharf  as 
you  were  brought  into  the  wharfhouse.  This  I  learned 
immediately  following  your  entrance  to  this  room.  It 
cannot  be  denied  that  the  encompassing  move  was  worked 
out  with  admirable  precision.  It  was  splendidly  planned 
— splendidly  executed." 

"It  seems  a  little  extraordinary  that " 

"That  no  firearms  have  been  discharged !"  Seafalcon 
questioned,  as  his  visitor  paused.  "No,  it  is  not  extraor 
dinary.  The  written  order  you  saw  me  give  to  Casey 
forbade  resistance.  Within  five  minutes  after  he  left  us, 
the  quiet  dispersal  of  my  outlying  guards  was  under  way. 
No,  there  has  been  no  armed  resistance  to-night,  and 
there  will  be  none.  You  had  planned  to  take  me  by  sur 
prise,  and  3Tou  have  succeeded.  And  yet,  I  doubt  whether 
the  surprise  you  have  given  to  me  may  be  regarded  as  so 
great  as  that  which  I  still  have  in  store  for  you." 

"Indeed !"  Rennison  exclaimed,  coldly. 

"But  let  us  proceed  with  the  explanation  concerning 
your  part  in  the  affair,"  Seafalcon  went  on.  "This  is 
likely  to  be  more  or  less  perfunctory,  I  suppose,  for  it 
probably  will  amount  to  little  more  than  corroboration  of 
certain  suspicions  which  are  pretty  well  defined  in  my 
mind.  You  will  tell  rne  frankly  whether  I  am  right  or 
wrong?" 

"Yes,"  the  Army  man  assented. 

"Very  good.  Well,  not  feeling  entirely  confident  of 
the  success  of  your  colleagues  in  trapping  me,  you  sought 


THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

a  personal  interview  in  order  that  you  might  be  followed 
here  by  your  confederates.  These  were  posted  around  all 
the  approaches  to  the  Union  Station.  The  stopping  of 
the  car  in  which  you  were  riding  with  Casey  was  part 
of  the  plan.  The  harmless  collision  was  sufficient  to 
give  two  of  your  men,  disguised  as  city  policemen,  a  pre 
text  to  poke  around  under  Casey's  car,  for  imaginary 
damage.  While  so  doing,  one  of  the  men  attached  back 
of  the  running  board  something  that  was  fashioned  like  a 
policeman's  club — something  which  was,  in  fact,  a  rubber 
cylinder,  with  a  small  hole  at  one  end  of  it.  Through 
this  hole  a  fluid  in  the  cylinder  was  permitted  to  drip, 
drop  by  drop,  in  such  a  manner  that,  assuming  an  auto 
mobile  was  proceeding  at  a  rate  of  twelve  miles  an  hour, 
the  drops  should  strike  the  ground  at  intervals  of  about 
thirty  feet." 

A  puzzled  expression  crept  into  Rennison's  eyes,  and 
he  said: 

"It  cannot  be  doubted,  Chief,  that  you  had  keen  eyes 
along  the  trail,  and  that  information  reached  you 
quickly." 

"Not  quickly  enough,  for  the  dripping  fluid  did  not 
assume  its  phosphorescent  quality  until  it  had  been  ex 
posed  for  ten  minutes  to  the  air — and  after  those  of  our 
vehicles  which  followed  you  had  passed  on.  Thus  it  hap 
pened  that  an  innocent  looking  commercial  car,  bearing 
the  name  of  a  grocery  firm,  and  carrying  friends  of  yours, 
was  speeding  along  a  newly  found  fire-dotted  trail,  after 
our  vigilance  had  been  relaxed — after  you  had  been  ad 
mitted  to  this  room." 

"And,  having  learned  all  this,  you  still  permitted  me 
to  live,  eh?"  Rennison  murmured,  thoughtfully. 

"My  boat  had  been  destroyed  and  already  your  marines 


A  STARTLING  TASK  315 

were  encircling  me.  I  saw  escape  was  impossible.  But 
there  was  more — much  more — for  you  and  me  to  do. 
From  the  moment  I  realized  you  had  beaten  me  at  the 
game,  no  thought  of  doing  you  injury  entered  my  mind. 
Strange  as  it  may  seem  to  you,  I  rejoiced  in  the  revela 
tion  of  your  astuteness,  your  fearlessness  and  your 
strength  of  purpose.  I  knew  the  completion  of  the  great 
task  on  which  I  have  been  engaged  could  not  be  entrusted 
to  hands  and  brain  more  competent  than  yours.  And 
so " 

"The  task  upon  which  you  have  been  engaged !"  Renni- 
son  exclaimed,  in  a  tone  that  was  indicative  of  wonder, 
astonishment  and  resentment. 

"Just  that,"  Seafalcon  replied,  regarding  the  Army 
man  impressively.  "And  in  the  spirit  in  which  I  began  it, 
you  will  finish  it.  It  is  the  rehabilitation  of  the  American 
Republic  and  the  restoration  of  that  Constitution  which 
came  to  the  American  race  as  a  heritage  from  the  founders 
of  their  nation.  To-night  you  will  accept  the  trust  I  am 
passing  on  to  you.  To-morrow  you  willingly  will  grant 
me  a  place  in  the  ranks  of  those  martyrs  who,  in  emula 
tion  of  the  example  of  Nathan  Hale,  have  given  their  lives 
to  the  cause  of  American  liberty." 


CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

THE    MAN    WHO    PIPED. 

As  his  gaze  fell  from  the  chill  eyes  and  masterful  fea 
tures  of  the  Brotherhood  Chief,  Rennison  slowly  thumbed 
some  tobacco  into  the  bowl  of  his  pipe.  The  idea  had 
occurred  to  him  that  it  was  with  a  madman  he  now  had 
to  deal,  but,  slowly,  this  impression  passed  away.  Glanc 
ing  at  Miriam  Warburton,  he  saw  she  was  regarding  Sea- 
falcon  in  the  manner  of  one  who  might  be  under  hypnotic 
influence.  For  several  moments  the  silence  was  broken 
only  by  the  striking  of  the  match  with  which  Rennison 
lighted  his  pipe. 

"You  would  have  me  understand,  then,  Chief,  that,  in 
the  course  of  the  reign  of  terror  for  which  you  have  been 
responsible,  on  land  and  sea,  you  have  been  dominated  by 
a  desire  to  effect  the  rehabilitation  of  the  American  Re 
public?"  Rennison  asked. 

"Yes.  It  is  natural,  of  course,  that  such  an  assertion 
should  find  you  incredulous.  But  I  can  quickly  make 
myself  clear.  This  lady,  Miss  Warburton,  has  your  en 
tire  confidence?" 

"Absolutely,"  Rennison  replied. 

Frowning,  Seafalcon  fixed  on  the  face  of  the  actress  a 
gaze  that  was  brutally  frank  in  its  expression  of  mingled 
dislike  and  contempt.  Glancing  appealingly  toward  Ren 
nison,  Miriam  started  to  rise. 

316 


THE  MAN  WHO  PIPED  317 

"Keep  your  seat,  Miss  Warburton,"  Rennison  directed 
sharply. 

"Please  do,"  drawled  Seafalcon.  "It  is  just  as  well, 
perhaps,  that  there  should  be  a  witness  to  what  I  have 
to  say.  I  would  have  preferred  one  of  my  own  sex.  But, 
inasmuch  as  you  have  heard  what  already  has  been  said 
by  me,  it  might  be  advisable  for  you  to  hear  the  rest.  It 
sometimes  is  as  dangerous  to  tell  a  woman  too  little  as  to 
tell  her  too  much." 

He  paused,  then  shifting  his  gaze  to  the  face  of  Ren 
nison,  he  went  on,  moodily: 

"Time  is  flying  so  quickly  that  it  is  impossible  that  my 
curiosity  should  make  further  demands  upon  it.  For 
this  reason  Miss  Warburton's  mixed  relations  with  this 
affair  constitute  a  mystery  which,  so  far  as  I  am  con 
cerned,  must  remain  unsolved.  That  Channing  died  at 
her  hands  is  a  fact  that  is  known  to  both  of  us.  I  had 
been  led  to  believe  she  committed  the  act  believing  the 
inventor  was  a  Brotherhood  spy.  She  assured  me  that 
she  did  it  knowing  him  to  be  an  enemy  of  the  Brotherhood. 
How  long  you  and  she  have  been  working  in  collusion  I 
do  not  know,  but  it  would  be  difficult  for  me  to  believe  you 
have  been  in  love  with  one  another,  as  she  has  represented, 
were  it  not  for  the  promptness  with  which  you,  in  order 
to  save  her  life,  drank  liquor  you  believed  to  contain 
poison." 

"You  would  have  shot  her  had  I  not  done  so?"  Renni 
son  asked. 

"Assuredly,"  Seafalcon  answered,  then  he  added,  bit 
terly:  "And  I  regret  that  your  compliance  with  my  de 
mand  prevented  me  from  doing  so." 

"As  you  have  said,  time  is  flying,"  Rennison  suggested, 
sternly. 


318  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"True,"  Seafalcon  assented.  "What  remains  to  be 
told  must  be  said  quickly,  but  it  is  essential  that  it  reach 
no  ears  other  than  yours,  Miss  Warburton's  and  mine. 
You  command  here  now,  and  the  men  below  are  yours. 
Tell  them,  then,  it  is  your  purpose  to  draw  up  the  ladder 
and  close  the  trap." 

Disregarding  the  alarm  that  leaped  into  Miriam's  eyes, 
Rennison  nodded  and  stepped  to  the  open  trap. 

"Catherwood !"  he  called. 

A  voice  below  answered  sharply. 

"I'm  going  to  raise  the  ladder  and  close  the  door," 
Rennison  explained.  "Stand  by  until  you  hear  from  me 
again." 

This  time  the  response  came  more  slowly — with  an  un 
mistakable  note  of  reluctance. 

"Right,  sir." 

As  Rennison  drew  up  the  ladder,  tossed  it  to  the  floor 
and  closed  the  trapdoor,  Seafalcon  watched  him  medi 
tatively. 

Over  the  features  of  the  Brotherhood  Chief  now  came  a 
change.  His  face  grew  whiter  and  a  faint  smile  played 
nervously  on  his  lips,  as,  sitting  on  a  corner  of  the  table, 
he  reached  for  the  long  envelope  he  had  taken  from  one 
of  his  pockets  a  few  minutes  before.  The  hand  shook 
slightly  and  the  low  chuckle  that  issued  from  his  lips 
had  a  metallic  harshness  to  it. 

"It's  all  here,  Rennison — the  $200,000  you  required 
of  us — for  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said.  "We'll  not  take 
the  time  or  trouble  to  count  it  now.  But  the  full  amount 
is  here — two  hundred  one-thousand  dollar  bills— crisp 
and  new.  Standing  at  this  table,  }rou  might  have  counted 
them — but  you  never  would  have  got  away  with  them, 
Rennison — never.  For  in  the  class  with  'cooties,'  rattle- 


THE  MAN  WHO  PIPED  319 

snakes,  tarantulas  and  centipedes  I  place  all  traitors  to 
our  country.  All  are  vermin  and  should  be  extermi 
nated." 

"I'm  glad  to  hear  you  say  so,"  the  wondering  Rennison 
replied,  perfunctorily. 

With  a  little  laugh,  Seafalcon  tossed  the  envelope  back 
on  the  table,  as  he  went  on : 

"And  so,  once  I  had  obtained  from  you  the  secret  of 
Channing's  invention,  I  would  have  made  short  work  of 
you — and  your  confederate  here.  It  is  fortunate  for  us 
both  that  all  has  come  to  pass  in  the  manner  it  has  done 
to-night." 

"For  us  both!"  Rennison  exclaimed,  quietly. 

"Yes,  for,  continuing  to  live,  you  shall  be  able  to  serve 
your  country  by  completing  the  task  I  have  begun.  My 
fortune  lies  in  rest — a  long,  long  rest  from  loathesome 
labor." 

Frowning  and  watching  the  Brotherhood  Chief  in- 
tenth7,  Rennison  stepped  behind  Miriam's  chair  and  laid  a 
hand  on  one  of  her  shoulders.  Again  Seafalcon  poured 
liquor  into  a  glass  and  drank. 

"Rennison,"  he  began,  "like  all  of  our  countrymen,  you 
have  learned,  within  the  last  year,  to  realize  that  we  are  a 
nation  of  fools — Esaus,  who  have  been  selling  our  political 
birthright  for  messes  of  industrial  pottage.  As  a  result 
of  our  eduational  systems,  our  youth  has  been  drawn 
away  from  the  soil  and  from  the  mechanical  trades,  thus 
making  it  necessary  to  keep  wide  open  our  Atlantic  gate 
ways  that  the  surplus  populations  of  Europe  might  flow 
in — to  do  that  work  which  American  manhood,  flocking  to 
clerkships  in  offices  and  stores,  disdained  to  do. 

"The  Anglo-Saxon  race,  being  Germanic  in  its  origin, 
found  little  difficulty  in  assimilating  the  millions  who  came 


320  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

to  it  from  the  homelands  of  other  Germanic  nations — 
Scandinavia,  Holland  and  Belgium,  and,  until  the  war, 
Germany  itself.  Other  races,  though  accepting  American 
citizenship,  maintain  their  integrity — as  races.  To  them 
the  great  heritage  of  Anglo-Saxonism  means  nothing. 
Magna  Charta,  the  Bill  of  Rights,  the  magnificent  efflor 
escence  of  Anglo-Saxon  law,  literature,  drama,  art  and 
science  were  the  products  of  no  ancestors  of  theirs,  for  in 
their  veins  flows  no  Anglo-Saxon  blood,  nor  do  they  want 
it,  for  their  racial  wills  are  set  against  intermarriage 
with  the  sixty-five  millions  of  Anglo-Saxons  who  consti 
tute  the  true,  unhyphenated  Americanism  of  our  country. 

"And,  ever  maintaining  their  racial  integrity  and  racial 
faiths,  these  unassimilable  peoples  have  been  coming  in 
ever-increasing  numbers,  with  the  result  that  they  not 
only  dominate  some  of  the  more  important  of  our  in 
dustries,  but  have  compelled  certain  of  our  larger  cities 
and  States  and,  finally,  the  Congress  of  the  United  States, 
to  make  obeisance  to  them.  One  has  little  difficulty  in 
locating  their  colonies  in  the  metropolis  of  our  nation, 
but  who  is  there  so  bold  as  to  attempt  to  locate  a  colony 
of  unhyphenated  Americans  in  New  York  City? 

"So  completely  has  New  York  City  been  conquered  and 
dominated  by  alien  races  to  whom  we  have  tossed,  indis 
criminately  and  with  reckless  spirit,  the  full  rights  and 
privileges  of  American  citizenship  that  a  true  American, 
of  Anglo-Saxon  stock,  is  inclined  to  blush  with  shame 
when  he  sees  the  flag  of  his  country  flying  like  a  conquered 
thing  above  an  alien  city  hall. 

"Misled  by  fulsome  and  hypocritical  tributes  to  our  so- 
called  great  racial  'melting  pot,*  and  deluded  by  the 
Fourth  of  July  oratory  of  our  own  noisy,  office-seeking 
demagogues,  we  gradually  let  the  reins  of  political  power 


THE  MAN  WHO  PIPED  321 

slip  from  our  hands  to  such  an  extent  that  statesmen  dis 
appeared  from  our  legislative  halls,  to  be  succeeded  by 
political  trimmers — unconscious  blunderers,  who  were 
mere  tools  in  the  hands  of  insidious  and  compact  organiza 
tions  of  hyphenates  who  dominated  our  industries  and 
political  elections.  When  we  awoke  from  our  trance  we 
found  that  the  'melting  pot*  was  nothing  less  than  a 
tremendous  volcano,  threatening  to  send  rivers  of  lava 
sweeping  down  its  sides,  carrying  devastation  to  all  that 
has  been  created  by  Anglo-Saxon  civilization  on  the  Amer 
ican  continent. 

"But  this  threatened  eruption  of  international  hyphen- 
ism  was  not  all.  So  deftly,  insidiously  and  certainly  had 
its  propaganda  been  spread  among  the  weaker  elements 
of  Anglo-Saxon  stock  that  true  Americans,  aghast,  found 
themselves  unable  to  identify  friends  or  foes.  Bewildered, 
they  knew  not  at  whom  to  strike.  Still  flattering,  still 
describing  themselves  as  'we  Americans,'  still  extolling 
the  merits  of  'the  melting  pot/  the  leaders  of  the  move 
ment  to  effect  the  collapse  of  the  American  Republic,  con 
tinued  to  appear  in  false  political  colors  and  to  disguise 
their  sinister  purposes.  Working  secretly,  the  leaders 
of  the  various  groups  also  worked  independently.  All 
that  was  lacking  was  a  master  mind — one  who  should 
consolidate  them  and  bring  them  into  the  open. 

"And  so,  Rennison,  I  addressed  myself  to  the  task  of 
assuming  that  role !" 

Seafalcon  paused.  Once  more  he  poured  into  a  glass 
some  of  the  contents  of  one  of  the  bottles  on  the  table. 
As  he  drank,  Rennison,  leaning  on  the  back  of  Miriam's 
chair,  watched  him  with  sombre  eyes. 

"The  legend  which  tells  of  the  manner  in  which  the  old 
German  town  of  Hamlin  was  cleared  of  rats  is  known  to 


322  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

you,"  Seafalcon  went  on.  "A  mystery  man,  the  Pied 
Piper,  evoked  from  his  magic  pipe  a  weird  melody  which 
drew  the  pests  from  their  holes  and  caused  them  to  follow 
him  to  the  River  Weser,  into  which  they  plunged  to  their 
deaths.  And  it  was  as  a  mystery  man  that  I  appeared. 
I  piped — a  weird  harmony  of  sedition,  of  the  unbridled 
license  of  Bolshevism,  and  the  enemies  of  our  civilization 
listened  to  me.  I  piped,  and  the  leaders  began  to  come 
to  me  from  their  holes,  so  that  I  might  see  their  faces.  I 
piped,  and  they  followed  me.  I  led  them  into  councils, 
where  they  spoke,  without  restraint,  of  their  treasonable 
designs.  With  astonishing  celerity,  they  linked  up  with 
treasonable  organizations  abroad. 

"While  my  subordinate  chiefs  revealed  to  me  the  plans 
they  had  made  to  effect  the  overthrow  of  Anglo-Saxon 
civilization  on  this  continent,  I  became  the  terror  of  the 
seas.  My  victims  were  thousands  of  innocent  men, 
women  and  children,  who  went  down  with  the  ships  I 
sent  to  the  ocean's  floor.  With  each  sinking  my  leader 
ship  became  more  secure,  and,  with  each  sinking,  my  fel 
low-countrymen  became  more  and  more  impressed  with 
the  magnitude  of  the  danger  which  now  threatened  them 
as  a  result  of  the  folly  of  investing  with  full  citizenship 
millions  of  men  and  women  belonging  to  races  that  never 
could  be  assimilated  by  our  Anglo-Saxon  stock.'* 

"But  why  did  you  send  to  such  cruel  death  those  thou 
sands  of  men,  women  and  children  who  were  innocent  of 
treasonable  designs?"  demanded  Miriam. 

Frowning  at  the  interruption,  Rennison  tapped  a 
shoulder  of  the  actress  protestingly.  Seafalcon,  leaning 
back,  as  he  sat  on  the  table,  clasped  his  hands  around  one 
of  his  knees  and  looked  sympathetically  at  the  accusing 


THE  MAN  WHO  PIPED  323 

eyes  and  tense  features  of  the  young  woman  who  had 
questioned  him. 

"I  did  it  because  death  is  the  end  of  all  of  us,  and  every 
human  life  should  be  consecrated  to  the  defense  and  main 
tenance  of  those  ideals  to  which  national  life  and  love  of 
country  must  be  regarded  as  giving  expression,"  the 
Brotherhood  Chief  explained.  "In  the  temple  of  Liberty 
the  high  altar  always  is  the  altar  of  Death,  for  Liberty, 
though  benign  when  enthroned,  is  merciless  when  she  is 
compelled  to  fight  with  the  sword  for  her  supremacy. 
And,  as  the  human  race  has  fought  for  and  against  her 
through  all  the  ages,  so  must  it  always  fight — with  death- 
dealing  instruments  of  warfare.  It  is  essential,  too,  that 
into  the  dark,  wretched  valley  of  martyrdom  women  and 
children  sometimes  must  go  with  their  fighting  men,  for 
the  sacrifices  of  the  weak  oftentimes  prove  more  potent 
in  the  advancement  of  civilization  than  the  battles  of  the 
strong. 

"In  sending  to  their  death  those  thousands  of  innocent 
men,  women  and  children,  I  achieved  a  twofold  object. 
Wearing  the  skin  of  a  wolf,  I  was  the  accepted  leader 
of  a  wolf -pack,  which,  savage  and  predatory,  was  domi 
nated  by  a  lust  for  blood  and  prey.  By  yielding  to  this  I 
strengthened  my  leadership.  But  I  was  doing  more.  I 
was  exciting  among  the  better  elements  of  American  citi 
zenship  a  rapidly  growing  hatred  of  the  pack  that  fol 
lowed  me.  I  was  compelling  them  to  recognize  the  neces 
sity  of  organizing  against  them. 

"You  will  ask,  of  course,  why,  if  I  were  truly  friendly 
to  the  old  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  I  should 
keep  striking  at  the  heart  of  the  Government  defense — 
why  I  should  make  traitors  of  public  servants,  steal  the 


324  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

secrets  of  defensive  measures  and  be  so  energetic  in  my 
efforts  to  swell  the  numbers  of  my  great  wolf-pack.  I 
will  tell  you. 

"Subjected  to  light  blows,  men  become  contemptuous 
of  their  assailants^  but  when  heavy  blows  begin  to  fall 
upon  them,  strong  men  grow  stronger,  think  more  quickly, 
fight  more  strategically  and  strike  more  vigorously.  The 
cause  for  which  the  manhood  of  America  must  battle  now 
must  find  no  weaklings  in  the  ranks — no  men  who,  by  rea 
son  of  fear  or  self-interest,  are  likely  to  go  over  to  the 
enemy.  And  so,  in  striking  at  the  various  agencies  of 
the  Government,  I  have  been  eliminating  from  its  ranks 
the  weak  and  the  unworthy  and  bringing  into  fuller  de 
velopment  the  powers  of  the  strong.  I  resolved  that  not 
until  the  Federal  Government  should  bring  forward  a 
man  strong  enough  to  grip  and  throw  me  would  I  relin 
quish  the  power  I  have  grasped  and  held  until  to-night. 
And,  now  that  the  Government  has  developed  such  a  man, 
I  welcome  him  gladly.  But  it  is  something  more  than  a 
welcome  which  I  am  going  to  give  to  you  here,  George 
Rennison.  It  is  a  power  of  punishment  such  as  never 
before  has  been  exercised  by  any  man  lacking  the  author 
ity  of  a  despot." 

Once  more  he  seated  himself  at  the  table  and  drew  out 
the  pad  on  which  he  had  written  the  note  he  had  given  to 
Casey.  With  his  teeth  set  firmly  in  the  unlighted  stump 
of  a  cigar,  he  wrote  rapidly.  He  used  three  sheets  of 
paper,  writing  only  a  few  lines  on  each.  When  he  was 
done,  he  scanned  the  sheets  carefully,  then  rose  slowly 
and  again  addressed  Rennison. 

"Captain,"  he  said,  speaking  rather  lower  than  he  had 
done  before,  "in  the  cellar  of  a  certain  house  in  one  of 
the  residential  districts  of  New  York  City  there  is  a 


THE  MAN  WHO  PIPED  325 

large,  metal-lined  concrete  vault  to  which  access  can  be 
obtained  only  by  a  person  who  is  able  to  manipulate  the 
combination  lock  on  its  steel  door.  Aronnd  the  walls  of 
this  vault  are  metal  filing  cases,  filled  to  capacity  with 
certain  data  which  has  been  carefully  arranged. 

"All  of  this  data  has  passed  through  my  hands  in  the 
course  of  the  last  two  years,  and  many  of  the  papers 
are  in  my  own  handwriting.  The  data  consists  of  the 
names  of  thousands  of  persons  who  have  been  engaged  in 
attempts  to  overthrow  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  together  with  full  accounts  of  their  activities  and 
documentary  evidence  of  their  treasonable  acts.  There, 
also,  are  to  be  found  lists  of  weaklings  who  easily  may  be 
persuaded  to  become  informers  and  aid  the  Government 
in  such  action  as  it  may  take  against  the  more  responsible 
leaders  of  the  Brotherhood. 

"This  house  has  as  its  custodian  a  man  who  long  has 
enjoyed  my  entire  confidence.  On  this  sheet  I  have 
written  his  name  and  the  address  of  the  house.  On  this 
second  sheet  you  will  find  the  combination  by  means  of 
which  the  door  of  the  vault  may  be  unlocked.  You  will 
scarcely  need  it,  however,  for  the  custodian  will  be  quite 
at  your  service — as  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  your  in 
vestigations  as  he  was  to  my  interests.  This  third  sheet 
contains  a  cypher  telegram,  addressed  to  the  custodian, 
which  will  give  him  to  understand  that  my  task  is  finished 
and  that  yours  is  begun.  It  was  understood  between  us 
that  should  he  learn  of  my  death,  in  circumstances  which 
might  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  communicate  with  him, 
he  was  to  get  in  personal  touch  with  the  Chief  of  the 
Secret  Service  and  commit  to  him  the  secret  of  the  vault. 
Should  I  be  able  to  send  him  a  message,  however — a  mes 
sage  authorizing  him  to  make  his  revelations  to  some  of- 


326  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

ficial  of  the  Government — it  was  understood  that  I 
should  do  so.  That  release  is  given  in  this  telegram,  and 
I  would  suggest  that,  after  leaving  here,  you  should  get 
the  message  on  the  wire  at  the  earliest  possible  oppor 
tunity.  I  would  further  suggest  that,  though  haste  is 
not  necessary,  it  might  be  advisable  to  visit  the  address 
given  and  get  in  touch  with  Henry  Buckingham,  the 
house's  custodian,  within  the  next  twenty-four  hours. 
You  will  find  him  expecting  you  and  prepared  to  afford 
you  full  cooperation." 

One  by  one,  Rennison  took  the  sheets  as  Seafalcon 
handed  them  to  him.  As  the  Brotherhood  Chief  stepped 
back,  he  glanced  again  at  Miriam. 

"Mixing  in  a  game  like  this  is  bad  business — for  a 
woman,"  he  said,  coldly.  "It  must  be  admitted,  however, 
that  you  have  acquitted  yourself  with  much  cleverness 
and  that  the  fall  of  the  Brotherhood  is  due  largely  to 
your  efforts.  But  there  is  no  time  now  for  me  to  attempt 
to  free  my  mind  of  the  impression  that,  for  some  mys 
terious  reason,  you  have  changed  your  colors  in  the  last 
twenty-four  hours — that,  in  fact,  you  began  as  a  friend 
of  the  Brotherhood  and  were  won  over  by  the  Govern 
ment." 

Miriam  rose  impulsively.  There  was  a  sudden  rush  of 
color  to  her  face,  her  lips  parted,  and  she  seemed  about 
to  protest.  Seafalcon,  however,  silenced  her  with  a 
gesture.  Turning  from  her  abruptly,  he  addressed  Ren 
nison. 

"Captain,"  he  said,  "though  you  now  are  in  command 
here,  I  would  suggest  that  the  automobile  which  brought 
you  to  the  wharf  probably  still  is  standing  where  you 
left  it,  and  that  it  might  be  advisable  to  take  Miss  War- 
burton  to  it  now.  The  ordeal  through  which  she  has 


THE  MAN  WHO  PIPED  327 

passed  has  been  severe,  and  it  doubtless  is  as  apparent 
to  you  as  it  is  to  me  that  she  is  a  bit  unstrung." 

Rennison  hesitated,  then,  with  compressed  lips,  he 
turned  to  Miriam. 

"When  you  have  returned  her  to  the  car  you  will  come 
in  here  again,  perhaps?"  Seafalcon  said,  with  a  note  of 
interrogation  in  his  voice. 

Rennison  nodded.  He  slipped  a  hand  under  one  of  the 
trembling  arms  of  the  actress. 

"Come,  Miss  Warburton,"  he  said. 

Though  he  spoke  quietly,  there  was  something  sharp 
and  mandatory  in  his  tone.  The  actress,  however,  ap 
peared  to  give  him  no  heed.  Seafalcon  still  held  her 
gaze.  A  death-like  pallor  had  overspread  her  face,  and 
her  wide,  wondering  eyes  were  expressive  of  awe  and 
dread. 

"Come,"  Rennison  repeated,  rather  more  sharply  than 
before. 

But  still  she  looked  at  Seafalcon.  Her  dry  lips 
quivered. 

"Good-bye,"  she  faltered. 

Seafalcon,  again  sitting  on  a  corner  of  the  table, 
watched  her  broodingly.  He  nodded  shortly,  but  did  not 
speak. 

Tightening  his  grasp  on  Miriam's  arm,  Rennison  led 
her  slowly  toward  the  door  at  the  further  end  of  the 
room.  He  opened  the  door,  and,  with  bowed  heads,  both 
passed  out.  Rennison  closed  the  door  behind  them. 


CHAPTER  XL. 

"THE  RENNISON  WAY." 

WHEN  the  door  closed  between  them  and  the  room  in 
which  they  had  left  Seafalcon,  Miriam  and  Rennison 
halted. 

A  marked  change  had  come  to  the  interior  of  the  great 
wharfhouse  since  the  Army  officer  had  alighted  in  it  and 
made  his  way  into  the  room  in  which  Seafalcon  had 
awaited  him.  Before,  its  gloom  had  been  dotted  by 
widely-separated  and  dimly-burning  lights.  Now  the 
headlights  of  automobiles,  lanterns  and  pocket  search- 
nights  were  flashing  everywhere.  To  the  left  stood  a 
company  of  marines,  with  grounded  rifles.  In  front  of 
them  was  a  motley  group  of  men  in  military,  naval  and 
civilian  garb.  From  this  group  two  men  quickly  detached 
themselves  and  stepped  forward  together.  They  were 
Towndrow  and  Rennison's  commanding  officer,  Colonel 
Hawkshurst,  Chief  of  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence. 

Half-blinded  by  the  glare  of  two  automobile  head 
lights  that  focused  their  rays  on  the  doorway  through 
which  Rennison  and  his  companion  just  had  passed,  the 
Bureau  Chief  and  his  subordinate  exchanged  salutes,  then 
Rennison,  drawing  Miriam  closer  to  him,  started  to  pass 
on,  apparently  oblivious  of  the  tense  features  and  ques 
tioning  eyes  of  the  two  men  who  had  approached  him. 

"Well,   Rennison,"   Hawkshurst   began,   with  manifest 

impatience,  "what  has  happened?     Where " 

328 


329 

"A  car — a  car — I  must  have  a  car — for  this  lady — 
quickly!"  Rennison  commanded,  with  a  sudden  outburst 
of  nervous  energy. 

The  little  group  parted  for  him  as  he  and  his  com 
panion  moved  forward.  Concerning  the  growing  weak 
ness  of  the  actress  there  could  be  no  mistake.  She  was 
fairly  tottering  now  and  her  head  had  sunk  to  Rennison's 
shoulder.  With  an  arm  around  her,  he  led  her  to  the 
machine  from  which  the  headlights  were  flashing  on  the 
closed  door.  Upon  reaching  this,  he  placed  a  foot  on  the 
running  board  and  fairly  swung  the  actress  into  the  ton- 
neau  and  onto  the  scat. 

Scarcely  was  Rennison  freed  of  his  burden  when  a 
sharp,  hollow  detonation,  issuing  from  the  closed  room, 
shattered  into  trembling  echoes  the  profound  silence  that 
had  pervaded  the  big  wharfhouse. 

"Oh,  God — God — forgive  him — all !"  gasped  Miriam, 
as,  losing  consciousness,  she  sank  back  inertly  on  the  wide, 
high-backed  cushioned  seat. 

In  another  moment  Rennison  had  leaped  from  the  car. 

"Stop !"  he  called. 

The  door  of  the  room  had  been  thrust  open,  and  already 
two  figures  had  rushed  in.  In  obedience  to  Rennison's 
shouted  command  those  members  of  the  group  who  were 
about  to  follow  halted  abruptly  and  looked  toward  the 
speaker.  Rennison  hurried  on.  When  he  reentered  the 
room,  he  closed  the  door  behind  him.  He  now  saw  that 
the  two  men  who  had  preceded  him  were  Hawkshurst  and 
Towndrow.  Already  they  had  reached  the  table  and  were 
looking  at  the  floor  on  which  now  lay  four  bodies  instead 
of  three. 

Hawkshurst  looked  up  as  Rennison  approached.  In  a 
strained,  husky  voice,  he  asked: 


330  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"This  is  Seafalcon,  Rennison?" 

The  Captain  glanced  at  the  body  of  the  man  with 
whom  he  had  been  talking  less  than  five  minutes  before. 
The  lifeless  right  hand  still  grasped  the  automatic  pistol 
with  which  Miriam  Warburton  had  been  threatened. 

"Yes,  Colonel — it  is  Seafalcon,"  Rcnnison  replied. 

"And  you — you  left  him  alone — in  order  that  he  might 
take  his  life?'*  the  Colonel  faltered,  as  a  frown  of  dis 
approval  darkened  his  face. 

"Yes.  In  the  circumstances,  it  was  the  one  thing  to 
do." 

Thus  speaking,  he  crossed  to  the  trapdoor  and  opened 
it.  Then,  calling  down,  he  said : 

"Everything  is  all  right  up  here,  Catherwood.  We'll 
have  you  up  in  a  few  minutes." 

"All  right,  Captain,"  a  voice  below  answered  promptly. 

Rennison  closed  the  trapdoor  and  turned  again  to 
Hawkshurst,  who  stook  his  head  incredulously. 

"I'm  afraid  I  cannot  see  it  that  way,"  he  growled. 
"You  have  given  to  him  too  easy  a  way  out  of  it.  Had 
you  prevented  this,  it  is  possible  we  would  have  learned 
something 

"I  have  learned  all  he  had  to  tell,"  Rennison  retorted. 
"He  has  assured  me  that  sufficient  evidence  to  convict 
all  the  leaders  of  the  Brotherhood  may  be  found  in  a 
place  which  he  has  designated,  and  to  which  we  must  get 
without  delay.  It  is  essential,  Colonel,  that  you  and  I 
get  to  New  York  to-night.  I  would  suggest,  therefore, 
that  you  direct  that  a  special  locomotive  and  sleeper  be 
made  ready  for  us  at  once  and  given  the  right  of  way 
over  the  line.  I  will  also  ask  that  the  stateroom  of  the 
sleeper  be  placed  at  the  service  of  Miss  Warburton  and 
that  a  nurse  be  requisitioned  from  one  of  the  hospitals  to 


"THE  RENNISON  WAY"  331 

attend  her  on  the  journey.  The  nurse  should  be  provided 
with  simple  medical  remedies  to  minister  to  the  comfort 
of  a  woman  who  is  suffering  from  mental  and  physical 
exhaustion  and  is  in  urgent  need  of  refreshing  sleep." 

"Would  it  not  be  better  to  send  the  lady  to  a  hospital 
in  Baltimore?"  Hawkshurst  asked. 

"No;  she  must  not  be  left  here — alone — to-night," 
Rennison  snapped. 

"Have  your  way,  then,"  Hawkshurst  replied,  resignedly 
as,  taking  out  his  watch,  he  glanced  at  the  dial. 

Rennison  turned  to  the  Secret   Service   man: 

"Towndrow,  the  Colonel  and  I  will  get  into  communi 
cation  with  your  Chief  shortly  after  our  arrival  in  New 
York,"  he  said.  "Meantime,  there  is  little  that  may  be 
done  here.  These  bodies  must  be  removed  as  quickly  and 
as  secretly  as  possible  by  Catherwood,  who  is  waiting 
below.  He  will  take  them  away  by  water  and  make  such 
disposition  of  three  of  them  that  no  trace  of  them  ever 
may  be  found  by  members  of  the  Brotherhood,  for  it  may 
serve  our  purpose  to  encourage  the  belief  that  one  or 
more  of  them  may  be  living  and  supplying  us  with  in 
formation.  But  the  body  of  the  man  who  is  known  to  us 
as  Seafalcon  must  be  treated  with  the  same  degree  of  re 
spect  that  would  be  vouchsafed  by  us  to  a  loyal  and  re 
spected  officer  of  our  Army  or  Navy.  I  would  suggest 
that,  having  been  placed  on  one  of  the  warships  now  in 
the  harbor,  it  should  be  conveyed,  with  the  greatest  pos 
sible  secrecy,  to  Annapolis  and  kept  carefully  concealed 
on  the  grounds  of  the  Naval  Academy  until  such  time  as 
it  may  be  possible  to  give  it  proper  burial  in  the  National 
Cemetery  at  Arlington." 

"My  God,  Rennison,  are  you  mad?"  demanded  Hawks 
hurst,  who,  like  Towndrow,  bewildered  and  horrified,  in- 


332 

stinctively  recoiled  from  the  man  who  was  addressing 
them. 

"You  will  scarcely  think  so,  Colonel,  when  I  have  re 
vealed  to  you  the  strange  secret  this  man  confided  to  me," 
Rennison  replied.  "There  is  not  time  to  tell  the  story 
now,  but  I  will  communicate  it  to  you  while  we  are  on  the 
way  to  New  York.  Meantime,  as  I  have  said,  these  bodies 
must  be  removed,  and  all  the  men  we  have  brought  to  this 
section  of  the  city  must  be  withdrawn.  This  wharfhouse 
should  be  unguarded.  Let  all  enter  it  who  will,  and  the 
fate  of  Seafalcon  remain  a  matter  for  conjecture.  In 
obedience  to  the  last  order  issued  by  him,  all  the  men  he 
had  in  this  neighborhood  are  dispersing— completely  mys 
tified  by  the  orders  they  have  received,  ignorant  of  the 
fate  of  their  Chief  and  wholly  unable  to  grasp  the  sig 
nificance  of  our  movements  and  purposes." 

"In  that  respect,  at  least,  their  situation  differs  little 
from  mine,"  Hawkshurst  grumbled.  "But  let  us  do 
quickly  the  little  which,  as  you  have  said,  remains  to  be 
done  here.  Get  Catherwood  up,  and,  while  you  are  giving 
to  him  instructions  concerning  the  disposition  of  the 
bodies,  I'll  have  one  of  our  fellows  arrange  for  the  dis 
patch  of  a  special  train,  with  full  right  of  way  to  New 
York." 

"And  a  nurse,"  Rennison  suggested. 

"A  nurse,  of  course,"  Hawkshurst  answered,  dryly. 

The  Colonel  started  toward  the  door  at  the  further 
end  of  the  room.  Rennison  flung  open  the  door  of  the 
trap  and  called  down: 

"I'm  going  to  lower  the  ladder,  Catherwood.  Come  up 
alone." 

The  ladder  was  lowered  quickly,  and  a  few  moments 
later  Catherwood  again  emerged  from  the  trap.  Town- 


"THE  RENNISON  WAY"  333 

drow  listened  moodily  as  the  necessary  instructions  were 
given  to  the  naval  officer.  When  these  were  completed, 
Catherwood  summoned  four  of  his  men  from  below  and 
the  task  of  removing  the  bodies  was  begun. 

With  his  hands  thrust  into  the  pockets  of  his  coat, 
Rennison  moved  slowly  from  the  end  of  the  room  at  which 
Catherwood  and  his  men  were  engaged.  Towndrow  fol 
lowed  him.  When  they  were  out  of  hearing  of  the  others, 
Rennison,  turning,  said  quietly: 

"Well,  Towndrow,  it  looks  as  if  it  is  up  to  you  to 
assume  charge  of  the  situation  here  after  the  Colonel 
and  I  start  for  New  York.  For  the  time  being,  however, 
there  is  little  that  may  be  done — in  Baltimore." 

Without  replying,  the  Secret  Service  man  lighted  a 
cigar.  After  satisfying  himself  that  no  heat  remained 
in  the  burnt  tip  of  the  match-stick  he  tossed  it  to  the 
floor. 

"I  suppose  I  am  safe  in  assuming  that  your  confidence 
in  the  good  faith  of  the  'Tanager'  is  completely  restored," 
he  said. 

Flushing  darkly,  Rennison  looked  at  him  sharply. 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  shortly;  then,  after  a  pause,  he 
added :  "If  you  have  anything  to  say  against  Miss  War- 
burton,  say  it  now,  Towndrow.  Twenty-four  hours  hence, 
perhaps,  it  will  be  too  late." 

"Too  late!"  the  Secret  Service  man  exclaimed,  won- 
deringly. 

"Too  late,"  Rennison  repeated,  grimly.  "It  is  my  hope 
and  expectation  that  within  twenty-four  hours  Miss  War- 
burton  will  give  to  me  the  right  to  exercise  full  pre 
rogatives  as  her  duly  qualified,  legal  protector.  From 
the  moment  that  right  devolves  on  me,  I  will  hold  to  a 
strict  accounting  any  person  who  threatens  her  personal 


334  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

safety  or  who  says  anything  that  is  derogatory  to  her 
reputation." 

For  several  moments  each  gazed  fixedly  at  the  other. 
Towndrow's  voice  shook  a  little  as  he  asked: 

"Do  you  mean  that  I  should  understand,  Captain,  that 
it  is  your  purpose  to  marry  her?" 

"Yes,  Towndrow,  I  would  have  you  understand  pre 
cisely  that." 

The  Secret  Service  man  nodded  and  puffed  hard  at 
his  cigar. 

"All  right,  Rennison — good,"  he  drawled.  "I  congrat 
ulate  you — and  her,  of  course." 

"Earlier  in  the  night  you  were  a  bit  suspicious  of  her," 
Rennison  went  on.  "If  you  have  any  reason  for  distrust 
ing  her,  it  is  best  that  you  should  tell  it  to  me  now." 

"It  is  because  I  expressed  to  you,  earlier  in  the  night, 
my  distrust  of  her,  that  I  have  now  asked  you  whether 
your  confidence  in  the  lady  has  been  completely  restored," 
Towndrow  explained.  "In  justice  to  her  it  plainly  is 
my  duty  to  remove  from  your  mind  any  unpleasant  im 
pression  concerning  her  that  I  may  have  created.  Be 
fore  I  came  here  to-night  I  had  become  entirely  satisfied 
that,  though  Miss  Warburton  is  an  Englishwoman,  she 
has  rendered  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States  a 
series  of  services  so  valuable,  and  so  cleverly  and  secretly 
performed,  that  they  may  be  said  to  be  beyond  compari 
son  with  those  ever  rendered  by  any  other  woman  in  the 
interest  of  our  country." 

A  faint  flush  came  to  the  ordinarily  impassive  features 
of  Rennison,  and  the  light  of  eager,  suddenly  awakened 
curiosity  that  beamed  in  his  eyes  encouraged  the  Secret 
Service  man  to  proceed. 

"I  have  learned  that  the  mysterious  appearances  of  Miss 


"THE  RENNISON  WAY"  335 

Warburton  in  certain  cases  in  which  I,  and  other  mem 
bers  of  our  Service,  have  been  engaged,  have  been  due  to 
work  which  she  was  doing  under  the  direction  of  a  certain 
official  of  our  Department  of  State,"  Towndrow  went  on. 
"Her  activity  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  was  begun  vol 
untarily  in  behalf  of  the  diplomatic  service  of  her  own 
country,  which  then  was  cooperating  with  our  own. 
Gradually,  iiowever,  her  work  brought  her  under  the  di 
rection  of  one  of  the  bureaus  of  our  Navy  Department. 
But,  inasmuch  you  now  enjoy  the  full  measure  of  the 
lady's  confidence,  it  will  be  unnecessary  for  me  to  give 
you  further  details.  It  might  be  well  for  me  to  add,  how 
ever,  that  she  has  declined  all  offers  of  compensation  for 
her  services  in  behalf  of  the  British  and  American  Gov 
ernments  and  that  her  character,  as  well  as  her  loyalty, 
is  above  reproach." 

"Thanks,  Towndrow,"  Rennison  said,  shortly. 

"There  is  one  thing  more  that  should  interest  you — • 
though,  I  daresay,  it  probably  will  occasion  you  no  sur 
prise,"  Towndrow  continued.  "Horsford  is  dead." 

"Indeed!"  Rennison  muttered,  coldly.  "How  did  it 
happen?" 

"In  the  Rennison  way." 

The  Army  officer  flushed  angrily. 

"That  is  not  an  answer  to  my  question,  Towndrow," 
he  said. 

"Yes — for  it  is  equivalent  to  saying  that,  finding  him 
self  hopelessly  in  your  grip,  he  died  by  his  own  hand. 
Taking  his  cue  from  Reifsnyder,  he  sent  a  bullet  into  his 
head  while  sitting  on  a  couch  in  the  library  of  his  home. 
His  death  was  reported  to  the  Washington  police  about 
an  hour  ago." 

Rennison  glanced  moodily  toward  where  the  last  of 


336  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

the  four  bodies  was  being  lowered  through  the  open  trap. 
Towndrow  was  about  to  speak  when  the  door  at  the 
other  end  of  the  room  was  thrust  open  and  Hawkshurst 
entered  briskly. 

"Well,  Rennison,  Meredith  is  off  to  arrange  for  the 
train  and  the  nurse,"  the  Colonel  said.  "Doubtless  they 
will  be  at  the  Union  Station  in  an  hour.  Meantime,  we 
may  as  well  wait  here,  rather  than  at  the  station,  where 
our  presence  would  be  likely  to  excite  speculation." 

Rennison  nodded. 

"That  is  best,  of  course,  Colonel,"  he  assented.  He 
paused,  then  added :  "The  report  I  have  to  make  to  you 
will  have  no  bearing  on  further  activities  in  Baltimore  or 
Washington  to-night,  and,  after  all,  might  better  be  com 
municated  in  the  privacy  afforded  by  the  train.  In  the 
circumstances,  perhaps — 

Hawkshurst,  quick  to  grasp  the  speaker's  meaning, 
frowned,  but  his  face  cleared  quickly  as  he  interrupted. 

"All  right,  Rennison — have  your  way,"  he  said  re 
signedly.  "She's  still  in  the  machine  in  which  you  left 
her.  Go  to  her.  When  I  get  the  signal  to  start  for  the 
station,  I'll  let  you  know.  My  car  will  lead  the  way  out, 
and  yours  will  follow.  After  you  will  come  another 
machine,  with  three  of  our  boys  who  will  accompany  us 
to  New  York.  So  get  along  to  her — get  along  to  our 
lady  of  mysteries,  who,  by  the  way,  really  does  look  as  if 
she  needs  a  sustaining  arm  and  a  comforter." 

The  situation  which  confronted  these  representatives 
of  the  Government  was  too  tense  to  admit  of  even  a  brief 
lapse  into  cheerfulness,  and  the  smile  which  parted  the 
Colonel's  lips  plainly  was  forced.  Its  incongruity 
brought  a  flash  of  resentment  to  Rennison's  eyes.  Turn- 
*ng  away,  he  fumbled  with  the  brim  of  his  hat  and  drew  it 


lower  on  his  forehead;  then  nodding  abruptly,  he  started 
toward  the  door.  When  he  reached  this,  he  extended  a 
hand  toward  the  knob.  It  was  not  the  knob,  but  an 
other's  hand,  on  which  his  fingers  closed,  however. 

Turning  sullenly,  Rennison  looked  into  the  eyes  of 
Towndrow,  and  it  suddenly  occurred  to  the  Army  man 
that,  in  all  the  months  he  and  Towndrow  had  been  ac 
quainted,  this  was  the  first  time  their  hands  had  met. 
During  that  period  each  had  known  he  had  enjoyed  the 
respect  and  confidence  of  the  other,  but  Rennison  had 
been  conscious  of  the  fact  that  Towndrow  had  disliked 
him,  and  that  this  dislike  was  due  largely  to  the  mysteri 
ous  fatality  that  seemed  to  invest  some  of  the  more  not 
able  cases  in  which  the  Army  man  had  been  concerned. 

Looking  now  into  the  eyes  of  Towndrow,  Rennison's 
face  grew  paler  as  he  realized  that  in  the  last  twenty- 
four  hours  this  spirit  of  fatality  had  dominated  the  re 
sults  of  all  his  efforts.  One  by  one  the  suspects  he  had 
been  trailing  had  died  in  what  Towndrow  had  been  wont 
to  designate  "the  Rennison  way" — Reifsnyder,  Horsford 
and  Seafalcon  and  his  three  companions.  Miriam  War- 
burton's  attempt  to  take  her  own  life  had  been  thwarted 
with  difficulty. 

But  in  the  eyes  of  Towndrow  there  was  neither  dislike 
nor  accusation  now.  In  their  sombre  depths  Rennison 
saw  something  he  never  had  seen  in  them  before.  Afe 
first  it  seemed  to  be  mere  pity,  but  in  another  moment 
he  realized  it  was  something  more — something  which 
comrades  saw  in  the  eyes  of  one  another  on  the  shell- 
scarred  fields  of  France — something  which  strong  men 
never  attempt  to  express  in  words — an  affection  of  man 
for  man,  which,  being  free  of  sex  alloy,  no  woman  may 
understand. 


338  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

Neither  spoke  as  each  tightened  his  grip  on  the  hand 
of  the  other;  then  Towndrow  opened  the  door,  and  Ren- 
nison  passed  out. 

Scores  of  faces,  white,  tense,  curious  and  eager,  were 
turned  toward  Rennison  as  he  halted  outside  the  door. 
His  eyes  were  heavy  and  there  was  a  dull  pain  in  his 
brain.  Vaguely  it  occurred  to  him  that  in  the  last  two 
days  he  had  slept  scarcely  more  than  two  hours. 

"Where  is  she — where  is  the  car  in  which  I  left  the 
lady  who  was  with  me?"  he  demanded  of  a  captain  of 
Marines  who  was  standing  near. 

Before  the  officer  was  able  to  reply,  one  of  Rennison's 
associates  in  the  Bureau  of  Military  Intelligence  stepped 
to  his  side  and  slipped  a  hand  under  one  of  his  arms. 

"This  way,  Captain,"  he  said.  "I'm  going  to  be  your 
chauffeur  to-night,  and  I  took  the  liberty  of  running 
the  car  back  a  way  from  the  crowd.  There  it  stands — 
yonder,  in  the  dark — headed  toward  the  entrance  of  the 
wharf.  The  Colonel  said  there  might  be  a  little  delay 
in  getting  away.  When  he  gives  the  word,  I'll  get  on  the 
job — at  the  wheel.  Meantime,  with  your  permission,  I'll 
hang  around  the  door  with  the  rest  of  the  boys,  to  await 
further  orders." 

"All  right,  Ben,"  Rennison  assented. 

When  the  car  was  reached,  Rennison's  conductor  re 
traced  his  steps  toward  the  door. 

Pausing  beside  the  rear  door  of  the  machine,  Renni 
son  looked  into  the  tonneau.  The  darkness  almost  hid 
Miriam  from  his  view — but  he  saw  her — in  the  further 
corner  of  the  seat,  her  head  resting  on  the  high  back 
cushion.  He  wondered  if  she  had  fainted,  or  if  she  were 
asleep. 


"THE  RENNISON  WAY"  339 

"Miriam,"  he  said,  softly. 

"Yes,"  she  answered,  faintly. 

He  stepped  into  the  car  and  sat  down  beside  her. 

"You  are  feeling  stronger  now?"  he  asked,  as  he  took 
one  of  the  hands  that  lay  upon  her  lap. 

"Yes — now  that  you  have  come  back  to  me,"  she  mur 
mured,  huskily.  "When  I'm  alone,  I'm  weak,  cowardly. 
My  thoughts  are  swarms  of  fears.  I  feel  as  if  I  were 
dead — as  if  the  things  about  me  are  unreal — that  they 
are  about  to  melt  into  something  else.  It  is  only  when — 
only  when  you  are  near  me  that  I  know  I  am  going  to 
find  a  way  to  rest,  and  that,  after  I  rest,  all  we  have 
passed  through  together  will  seem  like  nothing  more  than 
a  terrible  dream." 

Passing  an  arm  around  her,  he  drew  her  to  him. 

"Rest  now,"  he  said. 

"Not  here,"  she  protested,  shivering.  "The  air  of  this 
awful  place  seems  full  of  dead  men's  souls.  Why  do 
we  not  leave  it?  Why  do  we  wait?" 

"We  must  wait  here,  dear,  until  a  special  train  is  made 
up  to  take  us  to  New  York." 

"To  New  York!"  she  exclaimed;  then,  after  a  little 
pause,  she  added:  "Ah  yes,  I  remember  now.  He 
said—  — " 

"And  it  has  been  arranged  that  on  the  train  you  will 
have  a  stateroom  and  a  nurse  to  minister  to  your 
comfort." 

"But  why — why  are  you  taking  me  with  you?"  she 
asked,  wonderingly.  "I  am  glad,  but — but  why?" 

"Because  I  do  not  want  to  be  separated  from  you 
again." 

He  felt  her  trembling  in  his  arms. 


340  THE  SCARLET  TANAGER 

"Never?"  she  asked,  in  a  shaking  whisper. 

"Never.  You  will  be  my  wife,  dear — before  we  leave 
New  York?'* 

She  straightened  slowly  and  clasped  his  hands  in  both 
of  hers. 

"You  believe  me  to  be  a  good  woman?"  she  questioned. 

"I  know  you  to  be  a  good  woman,  Miriam — else  I 
would  not  ask  of  you  what  I  am  asking  now.  We  have 
known  each  other  for  only  a  little  time,  but — 

Slowly  her  hands  moved  up  his  arms  until  they  rested 
on  his  shoulders.  In  the  darkness  he  felt  her  gaze  upon 
his  face. 

"Why  speak  of  time,  dear  one?"  she  asked  him.  "In 
the  presence  of  death,  each  of  us  looked  into  the  soul  of 
the  other,  and  so  we  know  time  does  not  matter.  Some 
where,  somehow,  we  began  to  love  each  other  before  time, 
itself,  began.  And  we  know  that,  tempering  our  love  to 
the  fineness  of  eternity,  all  through  which  we  have  passed 
together  had  to  be." 


A     000820515     5 


B73/0 


